La Esperanza
by quiter10
Summary: Hope has vanished, and the Resistance is getting crushed by the powerful group Ultimate Despair, who have destroyed and controlled the world. But hope isn't lost. What can an amnesiac girl and the ragtag group that finds her do to defeat Junko Enoshima and restore hope? Also in AO3!
1. Prologue

**Hello to all readers! This is my new story La Esperanza, which is obviously about** **Danganronpa. As I love the series and all the characters (with a few expections), I hope that you all like this story!**

 **Well then, on to Chapter 1!**

* * *

Ultimate Despair. The name that everyone feared.

The group that had left a brand in the whole world, leaving only death and destruction in its wake. Its only goal was to spread despair, and completely erase hope. They had basically suceeded: all the major resistance groups had been crushed. There was still some rebelling, but the rebels knew that they were fighting a lost cause.

The leader of Ultimate Despair was unknown to most people living on Earth, and most of the ones who knew were loyal and devoted followers. When thinking of her, most peasants imagined her living in a huge, fancy castle, full of black and filled with guards and awful traps that would horribly kill anybody foolish enough to come in. A huge imposing wall all around it, with towers where archers and mages could easily snipe attackers. The surrounding area devoid of life, all just a husk, a burnt wasteland.

The truth, while in some ways similar, was also very different.

For example, while the castle was very lethal, it actually looked kind of harmless. It was an eyesore, not to mention ridiculous-looking. The building itself was well constructed, in a strategic position, but it looked like it had been painted by a one-year old. Colours clashed everywhere: a very light yellow dulled your eyes before a bright red made them burn and black splotches were all over the walls as if a black pen had leaked over a first-grader's Art project.

Mukuro Ikusaba, Commander of Ultimate Despair, did not know why her sister had painted it like that, but could think of two reasons.

1\. It could have a strategy purpose. The bright colours mixing together could disorient the enemy, or they could be blinded by the huge contrasts. However, even though her sister was very intelligent and a skilled fighter, she did not like strategy, prefering to make things up as they went along.

2\. It could be to give her despair. That was probably it: it sounded foolish, but her sister would do anything to get despair, even if it was for despair. In fact, she was addicted to despair and craved it every second she lived. Even painting her castle like that would give her the despair of having an awful-looking castle, and that was good enough for her.

The wall, probably for the same reason, looked like a bunch of clouds in a circle, with spikes sticking out of them from the side and tall towers sticking out of them from the top. It still had top-class fighters ready to die for their leader.

The surrounding area was full of life too, just a different kind of life. Sure, there were trees and flowers and there was even a small river but the plants were poisonous and the river's water was lethal. Not to mention the horrifying chimeras that had no mind of their own, but would ravage and tear into any intruders that weren't part of Ultimate Despair. Mukuro wondered how they identified who was and wasn't in the group. They had probably been implanted with the same program that controlled their robots, the Monokumas.

Mukuro snapped out of her thoughts as she heard footsteps echoing in the hall outside. A messenger with an urgent message, probably. Then again, who else would come here? She didn't have any friends: the whole concept was unknown for her. While her sister had befriended and manipulated countless people, she'd been her shadow and protection. And what did she get in return? A room the size of her sister's closet, with space for an uncomfortable bed, a tiny set of drawers and her most essential weapons that she liked to keep with her. The rest had to go to a special section in the weapon storage room.

Sometimes she wondered if her sister hated her, and that was probably true. Her sister always abused her, both physically (she still had bruises from the last time she was beat up by her) and mentally ("To put it simply, you're trash" was one of the least hurtful things she was often told). But then, why did she stay by her sister's side? The answer was simple: there was nowhere else for her to go. It was too late for her to rebel against Ultimate Despair (even though she wouldn't do that anyway) but she didn't want to end her life.

She didn't want to admit this either, but she stayed because she needed attention. Even as Commander, she didn't have any relationships with her soldiers. She was simply their leader, who gave them orders and fought alongside them. And of course, being friends with people outside Ultimate Despair was out of the question, which is why her only choice was to stay with her sister and receive what she chose to interpret as affection.

Suddenly, three soldiers came into the room; she instantly analyzed them, in instinct. They had the standard grey uniform, which meant that they were merely common soldiers. Their only weapons were the standard gun and taser. The black helmet offered quite a lot of protection, as did the bulletproof vest. The thing that worried her, however, was the scared look in their faces.

Something bad was going on.

Her fears were confirmed when one of the soldiers looked at her, and she saw fear in his eyes. Choking back saliva and tears, the soldiers managed to stammer out a sentence that made Mukuro run out of the room.

"Commander! Prisoner 10 has vanished from Jabberwock Prison!"

* * *

The Prisoner 10 in question was a few kilometers away from the prison, stumbling away and clutching an injured arm. She winced; the injury wasn't recent but there were still bruises and it hurt to move it. Her capturers had beat her quite badly in trying to get information from her.

But she didn't tell them anything, because she couldn't.

Her first memory had been waking up in her cell, scared, hungry and dehydrated. She didn't know who she was, or where she had come from: not even her father or mother. She had been badly surprised when she'd taken her gloves off in her first night in the cell. Hideous burn scars marred her hands, and they looked quite old. She wondered whether they would ever fade.

Her captors, however, thought very differently. Taking information out of them had been surprisingly easy. A few well-placed questions, mixed in with flattery and a great deal of acting, went a long way.

Apparently, she was Kyoko Kirigiri, one of the most prominent members of the resistance against Ultimate Despair who'd suddenly gone missing. While good with a sword, supposedly her magic was known throughout the whole ravaged world. Or at least, what was left of it.

At first, she couldn't believe that the whole world had been destroyed by Ultimate Despair, but that seemed to be the case. While on other countries the impact had been less severe, the territories near Ultimate Despair's heart had been completely put under control, or so she thought.

However, hope wasn't lost. The guards had let slip that Ultimate Despair was losing ground, and some territories had been completely liberated. Maybe the same could happen in this case... if the country that housed the base of Ultimate Despair was freed, then Ultimate Despair would be defeated.

But she couldn't think about this now. Instead, she had to run as far as possible from that hellish prison, where jailers did things that would horrify anybody to force out information from the unfortunate victims.

Escaping had been easy. She'd waited until most of the staff had gone to reinforce the group in a battle in a major city against the Resistance, and only the least capable jailers were left. With wits and manipulation, she'd managed to persuade the weak jailer to give her the key, then lunged at him. After kicking him in the shin, she took his gun from the holster, turned the safety off and shot him in the leg; she'd take the non-lethal option every time it existed.

From then on, it was easy. The jailer had inmediately spilled the beans about where her possessions were and gave her the key. She felt bad for him: he was almost certainly going to be killed for failing to contain her, so she'd knocked him out by pistol-whipping him once in the head to at least spare him the pain of the bullet that was lodged in his leg.

The entrance of the prison was surprisingly deserted, with only a few guards that were too drunk to even pay attention to their surroundings. Sneaking around them was easy, and son enough she'd obtained her belongings from the storage room.

The sword handle fit perfectly in her hand, and the blade was as beautiful as diamond and as sharp as one too. The ornate sword holder hung around her waist like a custom-made belt. An big, old book full of mysterious handwriting which described all manner of magic was in her hand, and the talisman that was needed to cast magic was attached to a cord and put on her neck like a necklace.

The talisman was the item which caught the most attention from her. It looked like an orb, with a gold outline and all the colours that she could think of mixing together inside it in perfect harmony. But even without her memories, looking at the talisman made her smile and have warm thoughts.

Running was difficult: Jabberwock Prison was in the middle of a desert, and her boots sunk in the sand wherever she stepped. She knew that there could be dangerous animals or Ultimate Despair chimeras in the sand, but she couldn't remember how to use magic.

Where could she go? Going back to the prison was suicide, but running away wouldn't do much good. She'd either get captured and killed, or die of starvation.

She could only keep running and hope for the best.

* * *

She didn't know how much time had passed when she started to hear the loud whine of a chopper.

Eyes widening in fear, she turned around to see a small pursuit helicopter quickly go in her direction, searching for her.

Her mind raced at a speed that surprised her, thinking up of possible plans and discarting them almost just as quickly. Hiding wouldn't do much good: the NKA 17 Pursuit helicopter had thousands of different radars installed that would find her in a flash. They had found her already.

Wait... since when did she know that?

Her mind left her in the dust, as it moved on. Running wouldn't work either, as the helicopter could easily reach 400 kilometers per hour without any damage to the structure.

She hadn't heard that from the jailers either. How...?

Information about that particular helicopter came to her at a speed that almost overwhelmed her. Her brain felt like it was going to burst from all the new information she was receiving. Designed by the famous mechanic Kazuichi Souda (why did she feel so much hatred associated with the name?), the NKA 17 Pursuit could carry 10 passangers, and had two machine guns installed in each side, light enough to not affect the helicopter's flight capacity but powerful enough to break rock and pierce cheap bulletproof vests.

The weakness was the tail of the helicopter. It was fragile, but needed for flight and stabilizing the computer in mid-air. Normally the tail was protected by a strong energy shield, but bad weather conditions such as sandstorms or hail messed with the generator of the shield and broke it, leaving the tail without any further protection.

That was the only chance she had, and she would seize it with all her strength.

She opened her eyes, only to see two machine guns fixed on her. She could see the pilot smirking from the cockpit, pressing the button that spelled death for her. The bullets flew out of the guns like rockets, leaving white trails in their wake and spinning towards her direction, tracking her down.

Running away was useless. The bullets would destroy any cover. She wouldn't be able to do anything!

And then she felt something inside her. Something inside her heart, a tug that pulled at her very soul. Something that was inside her wanted to break out.

 _Time stopped. Bullets froze in mid-air. The helicopter floated there, without any of its blades rotating. The wind stopped blowing the sands around._

 _Then, it happened._

 _She let out a painful scream and collapsed in the sand as a white orb slowly came out of her chest. It was like a part of her soul was getting ripped out of her body. The white orb then floated in mid-air, making no movements or threatening actions._

 _Grimacing, she managed to pull herself up from the sand and dust her clothes off. The sharp pain was quickly fading, but it had hurt quite a lot. She then looked at the orb and gasped, her eyes starting to glow white._

 _In a trance, she walked up to the orb, and touched it. Instantly, the orb exploded into a white light that blinded her, and all the light seemed to come back into her own body. In that instant, she felt two things._

 _ **Protection**. Selflessly shielding others from attacks, sacrificing your energy to save them and yourself._

 _ **Air**. A free element, peaceful and helpful when calm, an unstoppable juggernaut when furious._

 _She also felt something else: something almost unnoticeable, but with unmeasurable power. Her foggy mind cleared, and another power awoke within._

Time returned to normal. She could see the helicopter pilot frown in confusion, and the bullets resuming their trajectory, tracking her down so that they could take her life.

Of course, that was not going to happen.

She closed her eyes and spread her palms out. When she opened them, a spherical green shield had formed around her.

The bullets exploded against the shield, blowing sand, dust and smoke everywhere, but inside the protective bubble the air was cleaner than ever before.

Winded, Kyoko took a long breath, then shook her head to clear her mind. She didn't know where she'd learned that shields normally took lots of energy out of the user, but it seemed like Protection was easier for her than normal.

She resisted the urge to smirk when the smoke dissipated enough to see the pilot's shocked and furious face; he looked like a kid who was having a tantrum.

But she couldn't be distracted: the second step of her plan was already in motion.

With a sweeping motion, a light breeze started to blow in the area. The wind quickly built up power, until it became a monstrous gust. The wind started to shake the helicopter around, making it harder to aim, but that was only a bonus.

The real point of the wind was to blow around the sand. Quickly the wind became a huge tornado, and Kyoko was in the eye of it.

She felt exhausted, but she only had two options: continue or die. So she kept going.

Finally, she achieved her goal: the green energy shield suddenly disappeared, the sand making it impossible to function.

The tail of the helicopter snapped soon after.

Kyoko caught the final, horrified look of the pilot as the tornado flung the helicopter up in the air, then enveloped it in an air cocoon. But instead of a butterfly, all that came out was metal scraps and a broken helicopter blade. The pieces fell to the ground with a final thud. The tornado disappeared, her magic no longer keeping it alive.

She'd done it. She'd fended off the helicopter, and with her new powers, she might actually stand a chance at getting out of the hellish place.

At least, that's what she thought until she collapsed to the ground, adrenaline gone.

Just before the world turned black, she saw a hand extending towards her. With the last of her strength, she took it.

And they vanished.

* * *

 **Aaaaand that's it!**

 **Thanks for reading this chapter! In the next one magic will be explained, so don't worry if you're confused.**

 **You can ask about anything in the reviews and I'll PM you with answers, unless you don't want spoilers. No flames please, but reviews, criticism and pointing out spelling mistakes are very appreciated!**

 **Have a good day, and R &R!**


	2. The Resistance

**Very sorry for the delay in updating! There's too much homework and too many exams in the world, but oh well.**

 **Anyway, hello, and welcome to Chapter 2! In this chapter, characters will be introduced and some more plot will be explained.**

* * *

"Hey, she's awake!"

That was the first thing Kyoko heard when she slowly opened her eyes, only to rapidly blink due to the intrusive bright lights that flooded the room.

Immediately, she heard somebody jump up to their feet and approach her, footsteps echoing. Two people soon followed, with the last one lagging behind.

That was all she sensed before she let out a groan: a splitting headache had suddenly set in, which stopped her from thinking or even opening her eyes. It felt like her mind was exploding.

"Hiro, stop that!" A boy, probably around her age, had shouted out in anger.

"Are you sure? She could be an enemy, y'know... An impostor or something..." The voice was male, but was deeper and sounded a few years older.

"Well, we don't know that, right?" A confident girl's voice spoke up. "You know, innocent until proven guilty or something?"

"Just do whatever you want and stop wasting my time. I have more important things to do." A scornful boy scoffed, clearly impatient and bored.

"W-Whatever. I don't even c-care about what's g-going on..." A female voice, pessimistic and annoyed, spoke out.

That was all Kyoko could hear, as the headache was getting so bad that she couldn't concentrate at all. The world was just a mess of sounds right now.

Then, it suddenly cleared. All the pain left without any warning, leaving her only with confusion and exhaustion.

She fainted again.

* * *

"Hey... are you okay?"

That was the first thing Kyoko heard when she slowly opened her eyes, only to close them due to the annoying bright lights that filled the room.

Feeling a sense of deja vu, she opened her eyes and saw a face. Her eyes focused quickly, allowing her to see more details; the boy had a youthful, innocent-looking face with hazel eyes. Seeing that she'd woken up, he smiled cheerfully, and that brought more happiness to her than she'd ever felt.

"Sorry about earlier. Hiro thought that you were a member of Ultimate Despair... But I managed to convince him to stop." the boy explained.

She didn't know who was Hiro, or what did he do, but she nodded anyways. The boy smiled again, but then his eyes widened a bit and he gasped.

"Oh! Sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet... I'm Makoto Naegi. It's nice to meet you!" Makoto then stretched his arm out, hoping for a handshake.

Kyoko couldn't believe what was going on. Makoto, while a kind person, was too naïve for this kind of world. For all he knew, she could be an elite assassin, and yet he was trusting her enough to stand this close to her? How was he not dead?

And yet she smiled back, and shook his hand.

She was about to say her name, but Makoto shook her head. "It's all right if you don't want to tell your name now, you know."

After wondering if Makoto had mind-reading magic, she looked at her surroundings. It looked like she was in a hospital; however, instead of white, the walls and the floor were grey. Other than that, it looked pretty normal: there were all sorts of machines, a desk with an advanced computer, lots of paper sheets and a few pencils and pens in a box, and a lot of cabinets and drawers, each of them having different labels. She noticed that her book and sword were in the desk, but she was still wearing her talisman, which put her at ease.

There were also a few more hospital beds, just like hers. They were simple, with a white mattress, white pillow and white duvet, but very comfortable. The pillow and the mattress were comfortable and inviting, and the duvet covered her without wrapping itself around her.

She snapped out of analysing the room as she realised that Makoto had been speaking all this time. At least Kyoko had the decency to look embarrassed.

"Sorry, but could you repeat that? I wasn't really listening…" she asked, feeling guilty.

Makoto simply chuckled and spoke again, but the smile left, replaced by a seriousness Kyoko didn't know the boy had until now.

"Well, I believe that you're not part of Ultimate Despair… No, I _know_ that you're not part of that group."

That shocked her. Sure, Makoto hadn't touched her talisman, she was in an infirmary instead of a cell, and he'd even told her his name but to trust in a stranger so openly was a concept that Kyoko was a stranger with.

"How do you know that? I could be a spy or an assassin, for all you know." She knew that it was bad to challenge Makoto, who believed in her innocence, but she wanted to see if the person in front of her was simply trusting or a fool. She hoped that it was the former.

"Well, I have seen people in Despair before… It's not pretty. Humanity is gone, replaced by a mixture of bestiality, primal instinct, and a void that cannot be filled. They do whatever they want, whenever they want, without thinking of other people. They're perfectly fine with murdering people to achieve their goals… If you really were Ultimate Despair, you'd have killed me the second you woke up."

That argument… was completely solid. True, people in Despair were completely unpredictable and feral: bloodthirsty monsters that would stop at nothing to get what they desired.

She remembered members of the group laughing and laughing, their eyes crazed and broken, then everything around her turned into fire, a shield to protect her, then a gust of wind to get her out of there, while her father and his right-hand man stayed behind, a last promise-

Kyoko gasped, returning to the world as she heard Makoto approach her, scared, asking if she was okay. She tried to say yes, but could only draw shuddering breaths as she shivered in fear, barely noticing the sweat and tears running down her face. After a few minutes, she finally calmed down enough to form coherent words.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Makoto asked, worried about her. The boy really did wear his heart in his sleeve.

"Yes… I'm fine." she replied, once again hiding her emotions behind a familiar mask.

Makoto nodded. "We're going to meet the others… Are you ready?"

'The others' were probably the people that she'd barely heard when she first woke up, so six people in all. Of course, if things went badly she'd stand no chance against six people, but she trusted in Makoto, just like he trusted in her.

"Ready." she confirmed.

After Makoto put a blindfold on her, he took her hand and started walking. For a long time, they were both in silence, apart from Makoto cautioning her about steps.

"Careful, we're arriving in the stairs." Makoto warned her as he guided him.

To distract herself from stray thoughts, she started talking to her guide.

"Where are we?" was her first question. A sensible one, she thought: she'd fainted in a desert, and woken up in a hospital.

There was silence for a few moments as they went up the stairs, then a cautious and vague reply: "Um… I can't say. I'm not the one who knows about this stuff."

She tried probing him with a few more questions but the boy had clammed up and wouldn't respond any further. Did he mean that he wasn't allowed to say where they were, or that he didn't know? It was probably the former, considering that the place looked like it was his base.

After a bit more walking, she heard Makoto open a door (the hinges creaked), followed by him going inside the room. Kyoko followed, and she heard the door close behind them.

If she would have to fight, then it would be bad.

"You can take your blindfold off, you know. Stop standing around like that and sit down." a cold voice said.

The blindfold wasn't very tight, and she could get it off easily. Once off, she was surprised by where she was. She thought that she'd be in a prison cell, or at least in a conference room.

Instead, she was in a library. Bookshelves lined the walls, and the brown, carpeted floor and the brown walls, along with the pillars, gave off a formal and serious air. In the middle, there was a table… and there were four more people there.

A blond boy pushed up his glasses as he spoke in a snotty tone. "Finally. Naegi, what took you so long? You're 20 minutes late." The boy pointed to his Rolex watch for emphasis.

A tan girl with brown hair in a ponytail looked to the side. "Yeah, Togami was insufferable. This stupid four-eyed lemon just kept complaining and complaining like the spoiled brat he is…"

"Shut it, Asahina." Togami replied coldly, eyes behind glasses glaring at the girl, who didn't look upset in the slightest. Before the situation could devolve any further, Makoto stepped in.

"Guys, calm down, please! I'm sorry for being late, Byakuya, and Hina, don't start a fight."

The girl's fighting spirit faded, replaced by a guilty look. "Yeah… sorry, Makoto." she sighed, looking away.

Byakuya looked the other way and scoffed, but Kyoko knew that deep down, he was a bit sorry.

"A-anyway… What do we d-do?" a girl with purple hair asked, twiddling with her fingers.

"We interrogate her, duh! What else could we do?" a guy with messy-looking brown hair said, scratching his chin.

Meanwhile, Kyoko was watching it all. She was bemused at how this disorganized group had managed to survive for so long, and find a good shelter.

If they could afford to be as careless as they looked, then they had to be powerful.

Taking control, Togami gestured at her to sit down. After briefly considering leaving, she decided that it wasn't a good idea: if they had any sort of common sense, they would've installed security measures to prevent her from escaping.

She sat down on the chair. Instantly, steel chains came out of it, binding her arms and legs. She tried to struggle but it was no use… because this type of chair was an unbreakable trap. The chains were made of reinforced steel and covered with anti-magic solution, and were very hard to break. At least the chair was comfy…

Kyoko gritted her teeth: random facts and flashbacks kept coming to her, but she knew her memory was not even close to being fully recovered. How did she know all these weapons and artefacts? What did that traumatic flashback mean?

She was so lost in thought that she barely heard Togami start speaking.

"I don't know or understand why Naegi decided to rescue you, but what I know is that we wasted a teleport stone on you, and you left him unconscious for several days…"

She was going to ask what a teleport stone was, but pieces of information flew back to her, completing the puzzle. A teleport stone was very rare: it could only be found in deep mines, and that's if you were lucky. Looking like a grey diamond, the stone would teleport one person to a location, but only if they knew exactly where they wanted to go: exact location, name of the place, etc. Using it was simple: holding it, you had to think about exactly where you wanted to go, and that's it.

However, the journey came at a price: using it drained your energy, as teleportation was a very powerful ability and couldn't be used without a price. The stone changed colour to dark-grey when used one time, but touching it again automatically returned you to where you teleported from, along with anything you might be holding. To show that the stone had been fully used, it turned black and useless.

"We sent Naegi to scout the area in order to plan a raid, and instead we get a fainted Naegi and an unconscious girl…" Togami was still ranting, but Kyoko's mind started to block him out.

"But anyway… You know why you're here, right?" The girl, Hina, asked her.

She nodded. "To find out about me, right?"

"Yes, correct," Togami said. "However, we also have a trick up our sleeves… Hiro, do your thing."

The boy with wild hair, Hiro, nodded, then closed his eyes and frowned. Kyoko waited for some aura to radiate off him or a giant explosion, and she got nothing.

"You do know what will happen if you lie, right?" Togami asked. He seemed to be the leader, but then how did he listen to Makoto so quickly? At any rate, she wasn't about to answer his rhetorical question: she'd die if she lied, that's basically it.

But how would they detect if she lied?

"Who are you?"

"My name is Kyoko Kirigiri."

That simple sentence had a massive effect on the people in the room. Togami's eyes widened so much that they looked like plates, and Hina's jaw seemed to hit the floor as she gasped. Hiro's concentration was broken as he nearly fell off his chair in shock. The other girl looked like she was going to faint.

Makoto, however, didn't look as shocked. He merely said: "Yeah, I thought so."

Immediately, Hina turned to him. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well… I did see her sword, her book and her talisman, and they look just like Kyoko Kirigiri's weapons."

"S-seriously?" the other girl gasped. "The sword f-forged by the best blacksmiths in the land, the book with knowledge of all m-magic, and her talisman?"

Makoto nodded. "Exactly, Toko. I was pretty shocked too, but I guess it makes sense. We did hear rumours that she was imprisoned in Jabberwock Prison… Everything fits."

Hina shrieked and ran up to her. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Please forgive us!" She then went down on her knees.

Truth be told, Kyoko didn't expect that she was that well-known. Sure, the guards back at the prison had mentioned something about that, but still…

"Don't worry…" Kyoko smiled at the girl: she looked like a good person. "I would've done the same thing too."

Togami still didn't look convinced. "They could be fakes, for all we know… Or maybe she stole them from the actual Kirigiri."

"What you're trying to say is that you need proof, right?" Kyoko stated, meeting the blond boy's icy glare.

"Yes, exactly." Togami nodded.

"Well, I already have proof. My hands," Kyoko stated. "Look at them and see for yourself."

Dawning comprehension set on Togami's face as Makoto slowly approached her. "Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"I don't have any other choice, do I?"

Makoto made a face, but slowly and carefully took her gloves off, as her hands were still bound.

The reactions were immediate. Toko nearly fainted, and Hina turned green and covered her mouth. Hiro's face turned blue with shock, and he fell off his chair, head hitting the floor with a loud thud.

Togami glared at her, then at her hands, then made a fist, face red with anger.

Toko was the first to speak, voice trembling even more. "T-t-those w-w-wounds…"

"Yeah…" Asahina had somewhat recovered, and was looking sadly at her hands. "Those are the burn marks. Actual burn marks, too… Look at the scars."

Togami frowned, then sighed. "It seems that with all this evidence, you are, in fact, Kyoko Kirigiri."

"That means you have information, right?" Hiro jumped up excitedly.

But Kyoko shook her head. "I… have amnesia. I don't remember anything that happened before I woke up in the prison."

"W-what? Seriously?" Toko muttered under her breath.

"Yes. Bits and pieces of information come back to me sometimes, but nothing about my past, or any information about Ultimate Despair." she replied.

Makoto was going to speak, but a glare from her kept him silent.

"Oh well… It can't be helped. Plus, with Kyoko in our side, the revolution is going to happen!" Hina shouted excitedly.

"So you are a resistance group…" she muttered.

"Yeah! We haven't done much fighting, but we're doing everything we can to help the revolution!" Hiro said, smiling.

"Indeed. Despite appearances," and at this part he glanced at the others, "we are actually quite competent at fighting." he finished, grinning smugly.

"We've got quite a big armoury here, so weapons aren't a big problem. As for magic, there's a training room." Makoto explained.

"Hm… Interesting."

The group in front of her seemed like good people, and even if some of them were a bit… _quirky_ , she knew that with enough time, they'd be the people she could count on the most.

"Well… this doesn't sound bad. I'll stay here, at least for a while."

"Awesome!" Hina cheered, going up to Kyoko and hugging her. Though initially surprised by the sudden contact, she relaxed and gratefully accepted the hug.

"W-we're having g-good luck f-for once!" Even Toko, who until now had been forlorn and distant, smiled.

Togami pressed a button hidden underneath the table, and the chains retracted back into the chair. Kyoko moved her arms and legs: they were sore, but all right.

Makoto offered a hand, and she took it. After standing up, she wobbled a little, but stabilised. He smiled at her cheerfully, and Kyoko smiled back.

"So… what do we do next?" she asked.

* * *

 **Phew! This actually took a very long time... I hope you guys liked it!**

 **Anyway, I need your help, guys. Most of the plot is planned, but what I'm missing are weapons and magic for quite a lot of characters. I have some ideas, but they aren't very good, so if you could submit some suggestions, I'd really appreciate it!**

 _The people who need weapons are: Hiro, Toko, Sayaka, Leon, Chihiro, Hifumi, Teruteru, the Impostor, Mahiru, Nekomaru, Gundham, Nagito, Chiaki, Akane, Sonia, all of the Warriors of Hope and Junko._

 _The people who need magic are: Hifumi, Sakura, Teruteru, Nekomaru, Nagito, Chiaki, Akane, Sonia, Fuyuhiko, Mukuro and all of the Warriors of Hope._

 **To explain magic briefly: the magic you have is determined by your talisman. Very rarely, some people might have the potential to have every single type of magic (like Kyoko) but don't specialize in any, while most people only have one type of magic. Magic can be linked with personality/talent, but not necessarily. Magic can be elemental (e.g. fire) or not (e.g. music, sound, technology).**

 **Also, I'll be implementing Free Time Events in the story: when there's a break in fighting, Kyoko will be able to hang out with people. The benefits of doing that will be shown next chapter, but for now, you can vote for:**

 _Byakuya Togami, intelligent and arrogant._

 _Aoi Asahina, friendly and emotional._

 _Yasuhiro Hagakure, laid-back and gullible._

 _Toko Fukawa, eccentric and unsociable._

 **While magic and weapon requests are always accepted, Free Time Event votes have a 48 hour limit. In short, after two days, you can't vote anymore.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	3. Drizzle

**Well, the votes are in! Seems like Hina won, so she has the honour to be the first FTE!**

 **Thank you all for your suggestions! They've been very helpful, so thank you very much!**

 **Anyway, on to Chapter 3!**

* * *

The rest of the day had been a blur: everyone had decided to ask her questions the following day, so she'd spent all her remaining time practising. Nobody else trained with her, which was a shame: she wanted to learn about their combat abilities.

She wasn't very good at using her sword at first, but soon she was improving, learning the basics of stabbing, slashing and parrying. She was far from perfect and would need lots of training, but Kyoko felt confident in using it for self-defence against an Ultimate Despair grunt.

Similarly, she still needed practice in both Protection and Wind magic. Despite her apparent mastery over those powers in the fight against the helicopter, she couldn't do more than summoning a small gust and a pretty weak shield that could only take three hits from Byakuya's arrows before shattering into tiny shards. Makoto had told her that the reason why her powers had multiplied in power in that moment was because it was a life-or-death situation: the limiters on power-use would disappear, allowing people to use their whole potential, but with the risk of dying if they used too much without proper training.

After that, Makoto and Hina guided her to her room. It was very plain, with a hard bed and a wardrobe containing cheap pyjamas, but she couldn't complain. She fell asleep as soon as she lay on the bed, plagued all night by confusing visions and terrifying nightmares.

She woke up gasping for air just as somebody knocked softly on the door. After taking a few seconds to calm down, she stood up and opened the door. Hina smiled at her cheerfully: for how long had she been waiting?

"Hi, Kyoko! How did you sleep?" she asked.

"Good, thank you," she replied. She didn't like lying, but she didn't want to needlessly worry Hina either. She could deal with dreams.

"That's good! Anyway, I'm sure that you're hungry, so let's go have breakfast!" And with that, Hina pulled Kyoko by the arm and dragged her through several corridors until they arrived at a cafeteria.

The cafeteria was quite plain. The floor had a chequered red pattern which gave it a formal look, and one wall was a glass window which allowed the people inside to see the outside. There was nothing much to see, though: a few trees, grass and the grey sky.

There were also a few tables and chairs, but they were basic and cheap-looking. Doors that led to somewhere (the kitchen, maybe?) were on the wall directly opposite from her.

"Huh... I guess it's late, but the others already had breakfast, which kind of sucks," Hina groaned after glancing at the giant clock hanging from the ceiling: it was eleven o'clock.

"Oh well, can't be helped. Let's get some food!" And with that, Hina pulled Kyoko over to a door and pushed it open.

Inside, it was canned food paradise. It looked like a storage room, and mountains of canned food lined the shelves and lay on the floor. They were separated into different piles: probably different types of food.

Making her way through the piles, Hina rummaged through a specific shelf. She explained that the piles were actually based on expiration date.

After picking some cans from the shelf, Hina then brought her to the kitchen, where all sorts of cooking utensils and silverware were stored in cupboards and shelves. She took a can opener out and expertly opened the cans, then tossed the lids into a bin. After taking out two sets of spoons, forks and knives she went back to the cafeteria.

"Well, this is breakfast!" After they'd sat down, Hina was already digging into her canned peach, eating faster than the eye could see.

Kyoko took a bite of her own canned peach: it tasted pretty good, to her surprise.

"For how long have you been eating canned food?" she asked. All she'd done yesterday was answer questions and receive no answers. It was time to learn about where she was.

"For… about two years, I think?" Hina answered after a while. "Ever since Ultimate Despair rose to power… and that was two years ago."

That was very recently. Ultimate Despair was actually a new group… then how had they rose to power so quickly?

Hina answered her question after pondering for a minute, though that might have been because she was busy swallowing the rest of her peach.

"I don't really know," she admitted, frustrated. "It all happened very quickly. One day they suddenly appeared in all of the newspapers and televisions, and the next day they'd conquered the world…"

"But how have they obtained control so quickly?" Kyoko pressed. "World domination should have taken a decade at least, not less than a year!"

Hina narrowed her eyes, lost in thought.

"Hmm… I guess it's because the members are super powerful…"

This could be an opening for useful information, and she wasn't going to let it go.

"How powerful are they?" she asked, her gaze so intense that Hina flinched for a second.

"Well, I'm not the right person to ask for that… Everyone but Hiro knows about the group better than me. But I'll try to answer as best as I can." Hina replied, seriousness written in her face.

"Thank you: this means a lot for me." Kyoko nodded at Hina, who smiled back.

"Well, first it's the grunts, and those guys are weak. Their equipment is so low-quality that it's as it didn't even exist, and most of them don't even have magic! They just terrorise cities and abuse civilians because they think that because they're part of that group, they're the best!" Hina explained, obviously angry. Kyoko concluded that she'd probably seen quite a lot of the grunts' "work". But what did she mean by the grunts not having magic?

She couldn't interrupt, however, as Hina was on a roll explaining things to her. The chain of power was almost like an army's, which made sense. After grunts came captains, then majors, colonels and finally generals. In the same level as generals came specialised groups: assassination, arson, mass murder, and many more examples. Finally, the General of the Army, who was rumoured to be the sister of Ultimate Despair's leader.

"There's also rumours of a man more powerful than the leader being at her side… But if he was stronger than her, then why would he not take over?"

"Do you know anything else about Ultimate Despair?" Kyoko asked. "Anything would help."

"Um… Let's see… Well, the higher members are really powerful! There's supposedly a secret group called the 'Warriors of Hope' which is in the same rank as the Army General, and-" Kyoko interrupted Hina: there was something fishy.

"How do you know all of this?" Kyoko asked her.

"Information about the group is mostly very easy to guess. We don't know the leader's identity, but apart from that you can get pretty much anything you want to know about them if you talk to the right people- "

That seemed suspicious: how could anyone know so much about the enemy so easily? If she was the leader, she'd keep secret all of the information that she could, or she would-

Wait, that was it! A clever strategy, but… not infallible.

"Wait, Hina. How do you know all of this information is true?"

Hina's eyes widened. "W-what do you mean?" she asked confusedly. Hina was obviously not stupid, however, and seconds afterwards she gasped.

"Are you saying that what we know is false?"

Kyoko nodded. "Well, kind of. What I'm trying to suggest is that normally groups would hide everything they could about themselves, even something as insignificant as ranks. So it's strange that so much information about Ultimate Despair is out in the open…"

"So what do you think is going on?" Hina asked Kyoko.

"There are two options… Either the group is intentionally letting out some minor information slip out to lower the resistance groups' guards and make them confident, or…"

"They're spreading around false information?" Hina finished Kyoko's thoughts.

"Yes. It would make sense: Ultimate Despair practically controls the entire world, from what I know. Is that right?"

Hina nodded, earnestly listening. "Yeah. Some regions are starting to rebel and some countries have even broken free of their grip, but Ultimate Despair dominates at least three-quarters of the planet."

That corroborated what she'd heard in the prison about countries driving out Ultimate Despair, but it wasn't the time for that.

"A group like Ultimate Despair has enough power and influence to not letting out any information about themselves, so why is there so much data about them? The answer is simple."

"But how did people fall for it? Wasn't anyone suspicious about there being too many details?" Hina countered. It was a good point, but it also had a good explanation.

"Hina. If you were fighting against a tremendously powerful enemy, one that could end your life in an instant, and you suddenly got information about him, her or them, what would you do?"

Hina grit her teeth, then exhaled. "I… I wouldn't even consider the truthfulness of the information. I'd just be happy that I got information… any information about the enemy."

"Exactly. You'd be so relieved that you got something that could help you get the upper hand that you would completely forget about the veracity of the data."

Hina suddenly stood up; the chair scraped across the floor, making an annoying noise. "I have to tell the others about this!"

She then ran to the other end of the cafeteria, pushed the door open and dashed inside. The door shut with a loud thud.

A few hours later, Kyoko and Hina found themselves going around the building. The others were all busy with verifying the information as best as they could, but Hina told Kyoko to not worry about it.

"They told me that I should tour you around the building, so you get familiar with it," she explained.

There were five floors and a basement, and all of them had several rooms. The variety was huge: an audio/video room, a store, a huge gym with a trophy room, a trash room, a bathhouse that hadn't been used for a while; this, along with many other rooms that they hadn't seen yet, was only the first floor.

As they walked, they chatted about both important and non-important things. She learned that Hina had a sweet tooth and loved donuts: before Ultimate Despair invaded, she'd eat at least ten a day. She also loved swimming, which was good because the building had a big swimming pool. Hina was in charge of maintaining it as she was the one who used it most but she didn't mind if it meant that she could swim every day.

As Hina was going to show her another room, she asked: "Where are we?" A sudden question, but one that had been on her mind ever since she spoke with Makoto in the nurse's office.

"We're in my former high school! Pretty cool, huh?" Hina replied cheerfully.

Well, that was unexpected. How did the school have such a big budget? Sure, the dorms weren't perfect, and instead of gourmet food there was canned food, but still… What kind of high school had a _bathhouse_?

"Haven't you ever heard of Hope's Peak Academy? One of the best high schools in the entire world!" Hina asked.

 _Hope's Peak Academy_. That word sounded familiar and yet foreign in Kyoko's head; had she ever come here? The school was known all over the world: only a few hundred people on the entire world were given out scholarships to come here: the rest had to pay exorbitant amounts of money. It had the best teachers of the entire world: students were expertly trained in magic, technology and a huge variety of subjects.

The facilities were excellent, and students who graduated were set for life. And yet the school was known for engaging in shady activities…

More importantly, why had everybody left? The school served as a good shelter: there was canned food to last for years, and the school was shielded with countless protection spells. She asked Hina.

"Well, they didn't leave all at once… But the foreign students were the first to go. Then everyone started to panic: students fled suddenly, and the teachers disappeared. At the end, only thirteen of us were left."

"Thirteen? But you are only five members. Where are the rest?" She wanted to take back her words as soon as she said them, as Hina's normally happy expression turned wistful. Judging by her face, the eight students missing must have…

"They disappeared… One by one… Taka didn't return from scouting Jabberwock Prison: that's why we were so nervous about sending Makoto there. Celes and Hifumi held back an entire unit of soldiers to allow us to escape…"

As Hina told her about how her friends had been captured or attacked, Kyoko thought about whether she'd had any friends. She thought of herself as a cold, analytical person: definitely not sociable or easy-going. She probably hadn't had any, and the thought made her feel sad inside.

"Hey, Kyoko," Hina said suddenly, catching her off guard. She turned and asked: "Yes?"

"Do you know where your family is?" she asked, and that question quickly intruded around her thoughts and bounced inside her head until it was the only thing that she could think of.

She thought back to her vision of the fire. What had she thought? Her father-

 _Her father had stayed behind to save her_.

The truth came crashing down on her like cold, hard rain: her father was probably dead.

Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth instinctively as her face started to turn slightly blue. She started shaking, and trying to stop the shaking only made it worse. Tears started to form in her eyes.

She looked at Hina, who instantly looked regretful. "I-I'm sorry, Kyoko… I've ruined our friendship, right?"

Kyoko shook her head. "No, not at all. You wouldn't have known…"

"What are you talking about?" Hina asked, a bit less hesitant this time.

"You already know I'm amnesiac, but the truth is that I'm getting bits and pieces of my memory back sometimes… Yesterday, I had a vision. It was unclear, and I still don't understand, but… I think that my dad sacrificed himself to save me from a fire."

The two stood in silence for a moment, the sadness weighing down on them like a heavy cloud… until Hina spoke up.

"M-my parents… They were killed by Ultimate Despair."

Kyoko gasped silently. Hina looked like she was full of despair as she told her short story.

"In our apartment… Ultimate Despair blocked all the exits of the building, then… blew it up. There weren't any survivors…" She paused to draw a deep, shuddering breath.

"My brother Yuta's missing too… I-I don't know whether he's alive or not… But…" Hina's sadness disappeared, replaced by pure determination. Kyoko could see it in her eyes: they were full of resolve… and full of hope.

"I know he's there somewhere! And I don't care if it takes me my whole life, I will find him!" she shouted, full of energy again. All that despair was gone, replaced by certainty and resolution.

Kyoko nodded, happy that her new friend had shaken herself out of her stupor. "You will find him, Hina: I'm sure of it." She was surprised that she wholeheartedly meant those words: it wasn't a half-hearted mutter.

But she truly believed that Hina could do it. She had been with the girl for less than a girl, and yet she knew that her kindness was immense, only overshadowed by her determination.

Hina turned to look at her, shock written in her face. "Kyoko…" She then smiled cheerfully, but this time the smile seemed more grateful and genuine than the others. "Thanks."

 _The familiar sensation returned, and with a dull, grey flash, time stopped once more. Hina was frozen in place, but even if she was a statue Kyoko could still feel feelings of gratitude from her._

 _An orb, similar to the one she'd seen back in her battle against the helicopter, slowly came out of Hina, but this time it was a blue colour that reminded her of the sea. She wondered if Hina was going through the same pain that she'd felt when she'd gained her powers._

 _The orb whizzed to her side and spun around her playfully before stopping in front of her, as if waiting for something. Kyoko took a deep breath, exhaled, and touched the orb. The orb detonated, and her vision was filled with calming blue light. Then, she felt something…_

 ** _Water._** _The source of all life, friendly and peaceful waters change into furious tsunamis in a flash._

The moment time returned to normal, Hina drew in a sharp breath. She waved off Kyoko's concern, saying that she was simply tired from all the touring, but Kyoko knew better.

She'd gained Water Magic, but what had she done to earn it? The only thing she'd done recently was talk with… Hina…

"Hina, what kind of magic do you use?" she asked quietly. Hina seemed confused at the change of questions, but responded.

"I'm a Water Mage!" Hina said, grabbing her talisman and showing it to Kyoko. The orb was a deep-sea blue, just like the orb that Kyoko had seen.

What had happened? Had she stolen her power from Hina? Or had Hina intentionally given it to her? Questions bounced in her brain without any answers to calm them.

Then Kyoko heard heavy panting and quick footsteps. She turned to see Makoto at the end of the corridor, running towards them.

"Makoto!" Hina shouted, surprised. "What's happened?"

Makoto's face was blue, but Kyoko was sure that it wasn't due to exhaustion. His eyes were wide and he was shaking.

"We… we've found Sayaka and Leon…" he stammered out.

Hina's face lit up. Her mouth formed a wide grin, and her eyes were full of hope. But Kyoko was more suspicious: if this was good news, why was Makoto looking so nervous?

"How did you find them?" she asked coolly.

"When we were looking for information, I went to the nearby town to search for any clues… And… I saw their face in a poster," Makoto responded, stuttering through his words.

A sinking feeling set in Kyoko's stomach. She didn't like where this was going.

"What did the poster say?"

That question made Makoto break down. He shook even more than before, and was so pale that Kyoko thought that he might faint at any minute. With tears in his eyes and rolling down his face, he told her the answer.

"They're going to be publicly executed."

* * *

 **And that's it!**

 **Well, the point of the Free Time Events has been revealed! When Kyoko bonds with someone, she'll basically gain the powers of the other person.**

 **It will only take one FTE to get someone else's powers, but it will take another two to max out their power.**

 **Basically, there are three levels for each of Kyoko's powers.**

 **Lv 1: Beginner (one FTE with that person)**

 **Lv 2: Intermediate (two FTE with that person)**

 **Lv 3: Advanced (three FTE with that person)**

 **The max level is Advanced: after that, you can't have an FTE with that person.**

 **Anyway, next chapter there will be another FTE, so you can vote to hang out with...**

 _Aoi Asahina, the friendly and emotional Water Mage_

 _Byakuya Togami, the intelligent and arrogant Chill Mage (ice and snow)_

 _Yasuhiro Hagakure, the laid-back and gullible Mind Mage (psychic powers)_

 _Toko Fukawa, the eccentric and unsociable Poison Mage_

 **Kyoko's Magic is...**

 _Air Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (?)_

 _Protection Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (?)_

 _Water Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (Aoi Asahina)_

 **Also, I still need magic and weapons for some people, which are...**

 _Weapons: Sayaka, Hifumi, Sonia, Akane, Impostor, Mahiru, Nekomaru, Nagito, the Five Warriors of Hope and Junko._

 _Magic: Mondo, Mukuro, Fuyuhiko, Akane, Teruteru, Nekomaru, Komaru and the Five Warriors of Hope._

 **Every suggestion and vote for the FTE will be greatly appreciated!**

 **Thanks for reading, and have a good day!**


	4. Resonance of the Synapses

**There were two votes: one for Byakuya and one for Hiro, so I flipped a coin to decide. Hiro was tails and I got tails, so the FTE is Hiro's!**

 **Anyway, on to the chapter!**

* * *

With a heavy push, the door to the library swung open and Kyoko, Hina and Makoto burst in, panting.

Kyoko saw that the other three were already sat on the chairs, their faces full of seriousness. The atmosphere was tense, electric, as if there was a fragile bomb in the room that could explode at any moment. She sat down cautiously, Makoto and Hina following right after.

After a quick moment of silence, Hina started firing questions.

"Are you guys serious?" she asked firstly, glaring at the others with fear and a touch of anger in her eyes. "This isn't a prank, right?"

Byakuya scoffed. "Hina, you are in denial... Yes, we are serious: if we do not do anything, Sayaka and Leon _will_ die." Kyoko noticed two things: Byakuya's voice was shaking a bit, and he even called Hina by her nickname instead of her surname. Even those two could get along when things turned serious.

She needed more information to be able to form a plan: date, location, details... She started by barging into the conversation suddenly and fiercely, like a gust of wind.

"When is the execution?" Makoto, although fazed by her gaze, responded that it was the day after tomorrow. In other words, in two days.

The execution would take place in the town Makoto had discovered the poster. The town, Spalvale, was big and a former major tourist spot, and Ultimate Despair had posted about a dozen squads in there. It would be quite well-defended and the soldiers wouldn't be very easy to beat; they'd need to prepare.

The library was big, so it only took ten minutes to find a detailed map of the town: it covered the whole table.

"Makoto, did you take the poster with you?" she asked. Makoto nodded and took it out of his pocket. It was wrinked from being rolled into a ball, but it was still perfectly legible.

The poster was very simple. Beneath the huge title, it showed two photos: one of a blue-haired girl and another one of a red-haired boy. She deduced that those were probably Sayaka and Leon. They looked injured, bruised and malnourished, but they had both glared defiantly at the camera: even in a photo she could see the hope and determination in their eyes.

Below their respective photos were small details: their age (19 years old, just like her), their date of birth and their birth place. Below was the crime they'd commited: being caught sneaking in an Utlimate Despair base to steal supplies. There had been other people with them, but they'd managed to hold back the grunts for enough time for the others to escape with the supplies. That had been only ten days ago.

The execution would take place in the Town Plaza, which was on the exact center of the town. Four streets led to it, and according to the map, it had a beautiful fountain in the shape of the Roman god Neptune. The streets would probably be well-guarded, and there would probably be a sniper in one of the houses.

Leon was going to be hanged, while Sayaka would be tied to a stake and burned: just reading that sentence made Kyoko feel sick. Hanging and burning were both long and painful deaths, and the Ultimate Despair grunts would probably enjoy seeing those final looks of despair right before death.

She closed her eyes and tried to think of a plan, while the others were coming up with plans of their own.

With Sayaka and Leon with them (there was no way she'd let them die), they'd be eight people. All of them fleeing as a big group would both attract attention and be slow: all of the soldiers would notice them and they wouldn't be able to get away. It would be better to separate into either two groups of four or four groups of two.

They also needed a place where they could all meet up, a rendezvous. There was another plaza a few hundred meters away which was perfect: far away enough so that there wouldn't be people there, but close enough so that they wouldn't get lost or go too far.

But why had they waited so long to kill these people? Another fact came back to her: normally, resistance members were killed on the spot...

There were only two options: to scare the townspeople, or to draw them out. It was probably the latter option: they were using Sayaka and Leon as bait in order to draw out the rest of the group.

She explained her idea to the others, and it was met with approving nods.

"There's one problem though... H-How are we going to get back here?" Toko asked, gloomy as always.

Byakuya spoke up. "I'll take care of it."

"We're counting on you, Byakuya!" Makoto told him, smile on his face.

With a smug grin on his face, Byakuya closed his eyes. "Heh. Your trust, although appreciated, is unnecessary. As the heir of the Togami Corporation, I will not fail."

The Togami Corporation... She'd heard that name before, but couldn't place when or where... It was like when you're thinking of something, but can't put it into words.

She shook that thought out of her head as they started to discuss the people who would be in each pair.

* * *

A few hours later, the sun had gone down. Kyoko and Makoto were in the training room, resting after an exhausting session.

Makoto had finally explained to her how magic worked. When babies were born, all of them had magical power. However, as they grew up, it completely disappeared on some, and they wouldn't be able to ever use magic.

"There's quite a bit of prejudice towards people who aren't able to use magic..." Makoto admitted, sighing. "It's not really fair, but what can you do? That's probably the reason why so many joined Ultimate Despair, actually: to be able to feel the sensation of power and to finally feel like they belonged to a group."

A compulsary test was performed on every single child when they were ten years old, to check whether they had the gift of magic or not. If they didn't have it, then they could still work with technology and machines along with other jobs, while mages worked in more complicated jobs. Mages also got a talisman which showed their magic. That was about it, really: Kyoko was almost disappointed with how simple it was.

"So is technology weaker than magic?" Kyoko asked him, remembering the battle against the helicopter. It had gone down easily, but then again, it had been due to her power limiters being disabled.

Makoto shook his head. "Not necessarily. Anti-magic coating is not very rare, and magic doesn't have as much raw power as machines can have. Not many mages can do as much damage as the mechs that Ultimate Despair uses."

"But magic has more versatility." Kyoko argued back. This could be an interesting debate. "Bullets can't do much other than rip things apart and blow them full of holes, but magic can have quite a lot of uses. For example, you could fly using wind magic-" Her thoughts strayed towards if she was able to fly with her current expertise in wind magic, only to be forcibly pulled back to the real world by Makoto's sharp rebuttal.

"You can fly using stealth helicopters, or mechs. And some weapons can effectively imitate the effects of magic. For example, a flamethrower built by a competent mechanic can mimic fire magic well. Oh, and any decent bullets can shred fragile magic shields apart."

Kyoko was momentarily stunned: under the meek exterior lay steel. Makoto could be assertive when he wanted to, and had no problem with coming up with good points in the fly. But she had a counter-argument. "Mimicking does not necessarily mean have the same properties as something. While a flamethrower or taser designed and built by experts could be an inferior substitute to magic, it can't completely copy all of magic's functions."

The small debate continued for about half an hour, and finally ended with a draw: magic and technology both had their advantages and disadvantages. While technology often had the upper hand with raw power and brute force, magic's versatility and its myriad of uses gave it stronger general utility than mechs.

It was then that Kyoko remembered about her strange experience with Water Magic.

"Makoto, I have a question." she said, to draw his attention. "This morning, before you told us the news, I had a strange experience..."

Makoto didn't look surprised in the least when she told her story. In fact, he looked almost apologetic. "Right... I totally forgot about that. Kyoko, could I borrow your book?"

Surprised about the sudden change of topic, Kyoko nodded. The big, old and dusty book had been on her lap the whole time, and she'd nearly forgotten about it.

When she'd first opened it, she hadn't been able to stop reading for hours. The book contained all sorts of information on magic, from the common to the rare and even to the rumoured or mythical. Every type of magic that was in the book had been dedicated several pages detailing its use, basic and advanced techniques, famous mages with that type of magic, and so much more. It weighed a lot, but it was probably worth it.

She had noticed, however, that at the end of every section there had been a page ripped off, while the page beforehand explained that the missing page contained the most powerful techniques for that type of magic. There were two options: either Ultimate Despair had taken them out (but why hadn't they taken the book inmediately to their base instead of a few pages?) or they'd been taken out beforehand (in which case she'd probably never find them).

Pushing away the thought, Kyoko handed the book over to Makoto, who took a minute to check the index, then went to the very last section of the book. The appearance was different: the writing was more formal and detailed. While the other pages had some splotches of ink on them, that page was spotless.

She checked the title. In very large and neat writing, it said: " _Spectrum Magic._ "

Spectrum Magic was different from every single other type of magic. It started as nothing, but had infinite potential. The explanation said that if a person with Spectrum Magic formed bonds with mages, they would gain the mage's magic. The stronger the bonds, the stronger the magic, but if the bonds were severed, then the Spectrum Mage lost the magic associated with the person whose bond was severed.

According to the book, there were many different kinds of bonds: friendship, trust, even love.

There was a picture of the talisman that corresponded to Spectrum Magic: it looked exactly like the one she wore.

That explained everything... Because she had begun to form a friendship with Hina, she'd gained the ability to use Water Magic… Where had she gained the Protection and Wind Magic from, though? The first thing she remembered was waking up in Jabberwock Prison, and she'd barely talked to the other prisoners.

The only valid hypothesis was that she'd bonded with people who had Protection and Wind Magic before losing her memories. The problem was, who had they been?

Unsure, she glanced at Makoto, and he smiled back reassuringly.

It didn't really matter who those people had been. If she met them, excellent. If she didn't, it couldn't be helped. Besides, she'd met five more people who'd accepted and welcomed her, and soon enough eight more would join that list.

She would find all the missing members… and she would bring them back. For Makoto, Hina, and everyone else.

With a new resolve, she turned to Makoto and opened her mouth in order to ask him something, but her voice caught in her throat when she saw examine his own talisman, having taken it out of his pocket.

The orb was exactly like hers… Makoto was a Spectrum Mage.

* * *

Makoto had a point about machines being able to imitate magic quite well: the stone rocks the machine in the wall spat out were extremely sturdy, not to mention dangerous.

" _Engaging Attack Mode: Ring Pattern._ " a cold mechanical voice monotonously intoned.

Immediately the rocks started levitating. When people thought about rocks, they instantly thought immobile, unthinking, but sturdy.

They would have been surprised when the rocks moved faster than Kyoko could run, quickly trapping her in a deadly circle, the rocks being the perimeter and her acting as the centre.

Well, her, Hiro and Toko.

"Aw man!" Hiro complained, his annoyed tone opposing his examining gaze. "Why do we have to do this again?"

"A-Are you stupid?" Toko hissed at him, not once taking her eyes off the stones. "If we d-don't train then we'll d-die!"

"Yeah, I know… But- Woah!" Hiro's complaining was interrupted by a rock quickly separating from the ring and launching itself at them. Before Kyoko could even shout a warning, Hiro stretched out his arm, palm facing the quickly approaching stone.

The rock suddenly stopped in mid-air, and in closer inspection, it gained a pink hue. Hiro made a fist, and the rock disintegrated, with only little pebbles and dust as the evidence that it had once existed.

Kyoko was impressed. Hiro was by far the laziest of the group, and was immature too, but that skilful display of power had surprised.

Toko glared at the rocks before swinging her arm horizontally, with only a second's delay between the gesture and a massive flood of purple gunk bursting out of nowhere, splashing over five stones that had tried to attack Kyoko from behind and leaving only smoking remains.

The machine quickly produced new ones though: when they eliminated one, two took its place. After quickly casting the stronger shield she could over the three (it would probably only endure one blow from a rock before shattering), she turned to a rock that was spinning in place, probably up to something.

She wouldn't let it. Closing her eyes, she summoned the power of water. It was the first time she'd use it, but a wind as weak as hers wouldn't have much effect on rocks.

A massive geyser burst out of the ground directly beneath the stone, the sheer heat and force from the attack reducing the rock to goo.

" _Ring Pattern not working; increasing difficulty. Changing to: Meteor Pattern._ " Noticing that the rocks were being used as glorified target practise, the computer tried a different approach.

The rocks all flew up to the ceiling, about twenty meters above the three. There, they levitated in place, waiting for the signal.

"Ugh, not this one!" Hiro complained. Toko made a face, agreeing with his statement.

Kyoko, not knowing what was going to happen, blinked. She hadn't been able to see for only a half-second, but when she opened her eyes a massive rock was hurtling towards her from the sky, reading to crush and grind her to a paste.

"Look out!" Hiro shouted right before a psychic pulse came from the opposite side of the room, destroying the rock and sending small pieces of rubble down on her. Her shield was strong enough to endure those, however.

Hiro and Toko hurried to her side, concerned. She hadn't spoken to them much, but she appreciated the concern for her wellbeing.

"A-Are you okay?" Toko asked frenetically. Kyoko nodded, keeping a close eye on those rocks. They levitated almost innocuously, but she'd almost been killed by one.

"Are all trainings usually this lethal?" she asked bemusedly.

"No, not really. You did see the monitor over there, right?" Hiro pointed at a huge computer full of keys, switches and buttons located in a corner, protected by an energy shield many times stronger than hers. Toko had put in some commands before coming in, probably adjusting some settings.

"That's where you set the difficulty: the higher it is, the more advanced the patterns are. All those other settings are for more specific settings, but I'm not the one who knows about this." Hiro continued explaining, only pausing once to destroy a rock with another psychic blast.

"Ch-Chihiro was the programmer of the team, y'know? He was the one who knew about all this stuff…" Hiro sighed, obviously upset. Toko, watching from a distance, looked at the floor.

Chihiro… She'd heard about him from Hina. A master programmer, the petite and innocent electric mage had been forced to face the cold, hard reality. He'd been the gentlest of the team and the most reluctant to fight: he considered himself a coward, even when everyone (even Byakuya!) assured him that he was a huge help and that he didn't need to fight.

But in the end, he'd volunteered for a mission that no one had been willing to do: protect his hometown by himself from Ultimate Despair. The village where he'd been raised was going to be destroyed, and Chihiro had defended it to the bitter end.

And he'd succeeded- until the Army Commander had appeared. Even after he'd been captured or maybe even killed, the Commander had ordered his (or was it her?) men to stand down and not attack the town ever again, respecting Chihiro's wishes. Kyoko had to admit, she'd gained quite a lot of respect for the shy boy after Hina had told her the story.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a rock smashed to the ground about two inches away from her.

After quickly blasting the rock with water and destroying it, she fixed her stare on the rocks on the ceiling.

She made a mental note to talk to Hiro later.

* * *

Bleary-eyed, Kyoko sat in the library, the only other noise the shuffling of cards.

The map and poster were in the table, along with a piece of paper and a pen. Everyone else but Hiro had gone to sleep, trying to get prepared for the rescue tomorrow.

She, however, was going to stay up longer. The plan wasn't completely perfect: several things could go wrong...

There were quite a few problems. How where they going to deal with bystanders? Attacking them was out of the question, but they couldn't fight to the fullest if they had to be much more careful about were to aim. Not to mention that Ultimate Despair could probably take some people hostage, ruining their plan.

The shuffling of cards stopped, and Kyoko heard footsteps coming her way. Hiro sat down on the chair and eagerly turned towards her.

"How's the planning going?" he asked.

She frowned dejectedly. "Not very well," she admitted. "There are quite a few bumps that I can't smooth over."

Hiro shrugged. "You know, you don't have to do this alone. Let me help!"

She nodded, and soon enough Kyoko found that two minds were better than one. Even though Hiro seemed stupid, he was more intelligent than he looked like. Quite a lot of problems were solved: Hiro had quite a lot of knowledge of his teammates' powers. Bystanders could be moved out of the way with telekinesis, protected with shields or separated from the fight with walls of ice.

"What magic do Sayaka and Leon have?" she asked him: if she wanted a good battle plan, she needed to know the abilities of her teammates.

Sayaka was a Music Mage. Her singing could do amazing things: from hurting enemies to reinforcing or even healing allies, not to mention control opponents with music. Music Magic didn't sound like much, but it was a force to be reckoned with. Sayaka was an amazing supporter.

Leon was a Fire Mage. Unlike Sayaka, who liked to find the perfect opening, Leon loved charging in and reducing everything to ashes. Even though his favourite battle style was to burn anything, he could be surprisingly smart.

As for the pairs, Hiro gave her advice on who to put together. Byakuya and Leon fought quite a bit due to their opposing personalities. Sayaka and Hiro weren't in the best of terms (he didn't tell her why). Toko had to go with Byakuya in order to fight at her fullest, and Makoto could go with anyone.

After a few minutes of debating, arguing and considering options, the pairs were finally decided.

Toko would go with Byakuya, Hiro and Hina could go together, then Leon and Makoto and finally Sayaka and herself. The logic in the pairings was that Sayaka and Leon would most likely be exhausted and injured due to their capture by Ultimate Despair, so the strongest members of the group should accompany them.

Kyoko had to disagree. She could tell Makoto was strong: their little debate earlier had proved that. However, how could Kyoko be the second strongest in the group? Compared to Toko, who was able to summon giant poison sludge to intoxicate her opponents, or Hiro, who could crush rocks with the power of his mind, she was weak.

"Are you kidding me?" Hiro cried out. "You're calling yourself weak? You're Kyoko Kirigiri! You're the daughter of freaking Jin Kirigiri, one of the best Protection Mages in history!"

Although she sincerely appreciated Hiro's attempt at comforting her, the gears started to turn in her head. If her father was a Protection Mage, that would explain how she had Protection Magic.

But if he was such a good spell caster, then how did he die in the fire? Her memories were still very hazy, but she definitely remembered him dying in there. Or maybe someone told her that he died, and yet he was still alive? There were too many possibilities, but her father could still be alive, and that's all that mattered.

"Thank you, Hiro. Those words mean a lot to me." she admitted.

"Huh? Oh, no problem!" Hiro laughed cheerfully, the sound echoing around the otherwise silent library. After that, they continued smoothing the last few details.

Finally, they'd completed the plan. It was as perfect as it could be: only a few insignificant things relied on chance, and it was the best way to succeed and yet not harm any civilians that they could think of.

"There we go, we did it!" Hiro said excitedly. Kyoko sighed contently: it had taken a lot of time, but it would be worth it.

She noticed Hiro standing up and getting something from the other table. It was a crystal ball. It was very clean and transparent: the light reflected from it turned into a beautiful rainbow.

"Hiro, what is that?" she asked.

"Oh, this? It's my crystal ball! I use it to predict the future and all that… I'd give you a reading, but it's way too late." Hiro explained.

"Where did you get it?" she asked, her interest piqued.

"Um… I bought it! The shopkeeper said that Napoleon had owned it, so it cost me my one million cents." he responded. When Kyoko just looked confused, he just chuckled. "It's just a reference! Dude, haven't you watched Ludicrous Lawyer? It's like the best anime ever! Hifumi introduced me to it, and it's awesome…"

He continued with his explanation. "Seriously, though, it's a birthday present from my mum. She didn't have much time to get a present, but this thing is awesome!"

She smiled at him, but inside her mind she thought about what happened to his mother. She didn't want another repeat of Hina though, and Hiro needed to be in fresh spirits for tomorrow.

"We should go get some sleep, Hiro." she told him, and he nodded. Together, they walked to the dorms and said goodbye.

"Have a good night's sleep, Kyoko!" he said with a grin, then opened the door to his room.

"You too, Hiro." she said.

 _And at that moment, the world froze again. Even in his petrified state, Kyoko could still feel friendship from Hiro: a comforting sensation._

 _An orb, similar to the other ones, came out of Hiro, but the colour of the orb was pink. It whizzed all over the place, bouncing off the walls and the ceiling, before finally stopping in front of her._

 _Kyoko took a deep breath, stepped forward, and touched the orb. The orb faded away, and the room was engulfed in a calming pink light. Then, she felt something…_

 ** _Mind._** _Mysterious and calculating, the mind is a wonderful, yet dangerous mystery._

Time went back to normal as she saw Hiro lose his balance and fall face-first. He waved off her concern, however, and quickly entered his room.

She went inside her own room, and didn't even remember changing into her pyjamas as exhaustion overtook her and she went to sleep, without any nightmares plaguing her.

That small blessing wouldn't make up for the difficulty of tomorrow's rescue.

* * *

 **Well, that's it!**

 **No FTE's next chapter, so don't vote!**

 **Kyoko's Magic is...**

 **Air Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (?)**

 **Protection Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (?)**

 **Water Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (Aoi Asahina)**

 **Mind Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (Yasuhiro Hagakure)**

 **The people who need magic or weapons are...**

 **Weapons: Sayaka, Hifumi, Sonia, Akane, Impostor, Mahiru, Nekomaru, Nagito, the Five Warriors of Hope and Junko.**

 **Magic: Mondo, Mukuro, Fuyuhiko, Akane, Teruteru, Nekomaru, Komaru and the Five Warriors of Hope.**

 **P.S. I need to get Sayaka a weapon super urgently, so any and all suggestions would be extremely appreciated, though that doesn't mean that you can't suggest for other people.**

 **Anyway, some more plot, some fighting, and an FTE! All in one neat package.**

 **Thanks for reading, and have a good day!**


	5. The Rescue

**I'm so sorry for not updating sooner, so here's the largest chapter I've ever written to make up for it. No more notes, so let's go!**

* * *

Kyoko awoke from her dreamless slumber when someone loudly knocked on the door.

"Kyoko! Are you awake?" Even in her morning dizziness, she could still recognize the voice as Makoto's.

She murmured out an unintelligible reply and shuffled over to the door. When she opened the door, she saw that Makoto, Hina and Hiro were waiting outside.

"Tired?" Hina asked concerned, and Kyoko nodded. Hiro laughed empathically.

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired too! Shouldn't have stayed up so late, I guess." he said. Pushing him aside, Hina stepped forward.

"Kyoko, we're going to have breakfast. You know where it is, right?" Kyoko nodded: the tour with Hina, even though it had been interrupted by the terrible news, had been enough for her to memorize the layout of the floor.

"Well, see you around!" Makoto cheerfully said. Kyoko saw the three walk to the cafeteria, loudly chatting. She really was lucky to have these friends.

After taking a quick shower and doing her hair, she opened her wardrobe and found clothes similar to the ones she'd worn when she'd arrived here.

There was also a piece of paper which had something written on it. Intrigued, she picked it up and began reading it.

" _We had some extra money from selling our fruits and vegetables to the nearby towns, and I had an idea. We decided to buy some clothes for you because you don't have any here. We really hope you like them: if you don't, then don't wear them._

 _Signed, Hina."_

After reading the letter, Kyoko realised that she was smiling. She would have to thank Hina later: the gesture was sincerely appreciated.

She had chosen an outfit that looked as close as her old one as possible. The skirt was more pink than purple, and the jacket was black, but other than that it was pretty much identical.

It was comfortable and snug, which was surprising. In times like these, she would assume that clothes would be basic and rough. She ignored it, however: it was rude to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Quickly she left the room and headed towards the cafeteria. When she arrived, she saw everyone already sat down.

"Kyoko, go get your breakfast. We'll talk after we've finished." Byakuya ordered, his calculating look meeting hers.

* * *

They'd agreed to meet in the cafeteria in an hour. Back in her room, Kyoko checked the clock mounted on the wall: it was 10:30. At 11:30, all of them would leave for Spadvale together, sleep in an inn and save Sayaka and Leon.

The others had gone to pick up different things, probably supplies. She felt guilty about not helping them: she needed to pull her weight around both in combat and in taking care of necessities.

She picked up her sword and put it in its holder, then picked up her magic encyclopaedia and went to the library. In there, she searched for her planning sheet that she'd completed last night and several copies of a small map of Spalvile: it wasn't as accurate as the big one, but they probably wouldn't have enough space. She also found a blank sheet of paper.

After arriving at the cafeteria, Kyoko noticed that she was the first person to arrive. Not surprising: the others were all probably busy.

On the blank sheet of paper, she started writing questions that she'd thought about but couldn't find the answers to. She'd ask the others later.

30 minutes later, her sheet was full of questions.

 _How is there running water and working electricity?_

 _Is Spalvale in a good or bad condition?_

 _How many run-ins have you had with Ultimate Despair?_

Those were only three out of many, but she didn't want to overload Makoto and Hina with questions: she'd just ask them those for now.

Soon after, the others started coming in. Byakuya was first; his clothes were pristine as always. He checked his watch impatiently, then sat down with a huff.

Hiro and Toko were chatting about something. After saying hello, Hiro collapsed in his chair, while Toko carefully sat in hers and bit her nails nervously.

She decided that she could ask some questions while they waited for Hina and Makoto, and spoke up.

"I've wondered about this for quite a while… Why is there electricity and water in here?" she asked.

Surprisingly, it was Byakuya who replied first. He smirked and started speaking in a 'know-it-all' tone of voice. "An obvious question with an obvious answer. Tell me, Kyoko Kirigiri, what is my magic, along with Hina's magic?"

Hina was obviously a Water Mage, and Hiro had mentioned that Byakuya was a Chill Mage when they'd finished planning.

"You use Chill Magic, and Hina uses Water Magic," she responded confidently.

"Correct." It was then that Kyoko first noticed Byakuya's amulet: the orb was a very light-blue colour.

"Well then, if you know that, why don't you guess why we have running water?"

After thinking for a while, she came up with several answers, but none of them seemed right. Water Magic manipulated water… Chill Magic manipulated ice and snow… What could the answer be?

She decided to go out on a limb. The hypothesis was a bit crazy, not to mention stupid, but it was the best one she had. "Hina creates the clean, drinkable water, and you create new pipes with ice?"

"Incorrect." Byakuya stated smugly, victorious little smile returning. "I knew you were stupid, but not this stupid. Ice pipes would not be safe at all: not even ice can kill all bacteria, and the ice pipes could melt easily."

Hiro rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, Kyoko: he just gets a kick out of winning."

"How do you obtain pipes, then? Do you buy them?" she asked. She already knew that ice wasn't free of bacteria, but him having mentioned his own magic threw her off.

"Yes. Most people do not have much interest in metal, especially since Ultimate Despair is collecting all the metal they can find for their own machines. They will gladly trade metallic objects for fruits or vegetables." Byakuya explained.

"Also, Mondo was a Metal Mage. He could easily create high-quality metal pipes." he elaborated. Hina had mentioned Mondo, but she hadn't said much about him.

She felt that it wasn't the time to ask for more details about Mondo. The others were already preoccupied with Sayaka and Leon's rescue: making them remember another lost friend would only worry them further and make them unable to concentrate.

"As for electricity, that should be obvious." Byakuya said.

"It's Chihiro, isn't it? He's the one that helped the generators." It was the best response that she could think of: Chihiro was an Electric Mage, so it made sense.

"A simple question for a simple peasant. Chihiro also fully charged all of the generators and the back-up generators before going to protect his town, so we have electricity for quite a long time." Byakuya said. That would definitely explain why they still had electricity.

Spalvale was in surprisingly good condition: the people living there were usually cheerful and generous. They knew the group well and welcomed them inside despite them being enemies of Ultimate Despair. Kyoko was surprised: Spalvale was in better state than she would have ever thought. She wasn't complaining though: apart from it being good strategically in that the locals wouldn't do anything (at least intentionally) to hurt them, it was nice to see that some people were doing fine despite the world they were living in.

"How many times have you fought against Ultimate Despair?" she asked.

"Not that many, actually; at least compared to bigger resistance groups." Hiro sheepishly admitted. "About a hundred, I think?"

"Y-Yeah, that sounds about r-right." Toko said. "Only about t-ten of those were big f-fights, too." Kyoko vacantly thought that Toko should really stop stammering so much.

It was then that Hina and Makoto burst into the room, panting.

"Took you long enough," Byakuya said. "It's 10:31. You're late."

"Shut up, Byakuya." Hina responded, breathing deeply. Kyoko wondered what had they been doing.

"Anyway, we're ready." Makoto said. "Let's go, guys!"

* * *

They'd reached the main entrance of the school, and were in front of the big doors that led outside. Makoto went up to a fingerprint detector that was attached to the wall and pressed his finger into it.

" _Identity confirmed as: Makoto Naegi, Student. Access allowed._ " A mechanical voice suddenly spoke up, the monotone sound echoing around the room.

With a great thud and a rush of air, the doors started to open; slowly at first, then quicker. Light aggressively raced inside the school and attacked her eyes: she closed them, but even then she could feel the fierce heat of the sun.

Hiro hissed. "Damn, we've been holed up for too long." he said.

"No kidding!" Hina responded, shielding her face. "It's been a while since we left the school, huh?"

The six made their way to a big old-looking truck. There was barely any space for all of them, as most of the space was taken by the trunk. Kyoko peeked inside: it was full of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The inside actually looked quite modern and advanced. The fruits and vegetables were separated into different sections by glass walls, and each section had different machines supporting it. She could also see a screen in the wall, showing the state the fruits and vegetables were in: the temperature, the ripeness, the healthiness…

"You earn money by selling fruits and vegetables?" she asked.

Toko nodded. "Y-Yeah… Growing fruits is easy; we have a really good g-greenhouse."

Progress, Toko, progress. Only two words.

"Hope's Peak was really into gardening and growing fruits and vegetables. You should see the greenhouse: it's amazing!" Hina said.

"And she will," Byakuya interjected. "Famous or not, Kyoko must make herself useful. I have only allowed you to not do anything these days because you were still settling in. After we come back, I expect you to help in doing the daily chores. You can't just dilly-dally in the library like some illiterate peasant that wants to learn to read."

"Hey!" Hina exclaimed, pointing at Byakuya. She stomped up to him, seething. "You know, I've never seen you do the hardest jobs either, like growing and selling the fruits and vegetables. You only do the easy ones! I mean, really? Turning the washing machine on? What a joke!"

Byakuya was momentarily stunned by the sudden outburst, and Kyoko felt a brief sense of sympathy: to people she didn't like, Hina was a bomb.

"Byakuya's right," she said, stepping in. Byakuya and Hina turned to look at her. "After this, I will start doing any tasks that I have to do. I can't just contribute in combat: I also have to take care of the base. Otherwise, I'd basically be dead weight."

"I'm glad you agree with me." Byakuya said, not having any scathing remarks for once. Hina looked like she was going to explode, but wisely kept quiet.

A blast of the truck's horn made the three of them jump.

"Come on guys, we can't waste time." Makoto told them. "Let's go!"

The back door was already open, probably due to Hiro and Toko having already gotten in. Makoto was driving, which was good: he'd go at the right speed. Byakuya went as co-pilot, while the other four were uncomfortably squashed in the back seats. They couldn't even put their seatbelts on.

"Sorry for this," Makoto said, grimacing. "I won't go too fast, I promise!"

"In the back, as lowly plebeians deserve." Byakuya said, smiling mockingly.

Hina nudged her. "Hey, Kyoko. You should probably leave all your things in the back. I'm sorry, but there's not enough space."

"Y-Yeah!" Toko hissed. "It's uncomfortable already: don't make it worse!"

"Oh, sorry. Where do I leave it, though? The back's already full of fruits and vegetables." Kyoko said.

Hina facepalmed. "Right, sorry. Totally forgot! Anyway, let's get off: I'll show you."

The two got off the truck; Kyoko heard Toko sigh in relief due to temporarily having more space. Hina opened the trunk: it was still full of fruits and vegetables, but she didn't pay attention to that. Turning to the monitor, Hina pressed the screen that showed humidity level in each section.

With a click and a whirr, Kyoko saw the floor of the trunk slowly rise up. The produce was still intact, but what interested her was what was underneath the platform. There was a storage area as big as the one above: she'd already noticed that there was more space, but had assumed that it was for machinery.

In there, there were several things inside, mostly weapons. There was an ornate bow, painted gold and silver. The crossbow beside it was much plainer, but still imposing. In a corner, she saw a blue trident with sharp-looking points: it was obviously well taken care of.

She then looked at a corner and saw a sword that she hadn't seen the first time. It was completely and utterly unremarkable: the hilt was plain and the blade wasn't very sharp. It was no wonder that she hadn't seen it the first time.

Hiro's weapon was missing, which disappointed her: it was a quite interesting weapon. Then again, she supposed that a pack of cards could easily fit in a pocket.

She left her sword there, and left her book in a separate section which was protected by a glass panel.

Quickly, the two girls got back in the car much to Toko's irritation. As soon as they sat down and closed the door, they set off.

* * *

It had been thirty minutes since they'd left Hope's Peak Academy, and it would be another thirty minutes until they arrived at Spalvale.

It was getting stuffy inside the car, especially in the back, but it was too risky to open the windows. Toko had stopped complaining of the heat after the first five minutes and was bitterly frowning while watching the landscape. Hiro's eyes were closed and he was trying to go to sleep. Makoto was concentrating on driving: true to his word, they weren't driving too fast. Byakuya was quiet, critically looking out of the window.

Hina and Kyoko were talking about various things. Quite a lot of the questions she'd thought up were now answered, much to her relief. She also liked the opportunity to bond with Hina, but not due to Spectrum Magic: she just liked talking with a friend.

It was then when a sudden horrifying thought came to her.

"Hina… I think we have a problem." she said.

"What are you talking about?" Hina responded, confused.

"With Sayaka and Leon, we're going to be eight people… Which means that six people have to be in the back." she explained. That… would be a serious problem. They were already tight enough; two more people just wouldn't fit.

"I'd already thought of that, commoner." Byakuya scoffed. "It's simple: Hina and I use our powers to travel."

"Oh! You mean Ice Travel and Water Travel, right?" Hina asked.

"Yes, exactly. Kyoko, you most likely don't know what that is, correct?" When Kyoko shook her head, he continued. "It's actually very simple. Ice Travel is-"

Byakuya was interrupted when the truck suddenly lurched forward. The tires screeched and the four that were sitting in the back were thrown forwards. Kyoko smacked against the front seat.

Head hurting, she dimly noticed that the truck had stopped. She groaned and stood up, feeling like someone had hit her head with a hammer.

"Are you guys all right?" Makoto shouted, looking at them. Kyoko heard Toko groan in discomfort but otherwise everyone seemed to be fine.

"What happened?" Hina asked.

"There was someone in the road! I stopped as quick as I could, but…" Makoto trailed off, looking at the side with fear in his eyes. Kyoko knew what he was going to say, and she didn't like it.

"Don't even think about that." Hina warned, voice trembling.

"But what if I did run them over? We have to check!" Makoto then took off his seatbelt, opened the door and jumped off the truck.

"Let's go with him!" Hiro said, and they all nodded.

As soon as they got off the truck, Kyoko noticed that it was much colder than it was half an hour before. The sun had disappeared behind the clouds, and a cold breeze blew over them. She shivered, but not from the cold: she had a bad feeling.

That's when she heard Makoto call out.

"Um… Guys? Come here," he said. The tone of his voice didn't reassure her: it was a mixture of fear and confusion.

Kyoko got to Makoto's side first, and found him looking at the person who he thought he'd run over.

But it wasn't a person. It was a dummy, dressed in cheap clothes and fixed to the ground.

"What…? What is this?" he asked to himself.

"Makoto? What's going on?" Hiro asked, making his way over.

While the others were coming, Kyoko concentrated on the dummy. A dummy on the road… Where had she seen that before?

That's when another memory hit Kyoko: unlike the others, this one wasn't unclear at all. She suddenly comprehended the situation that they were in: they needed to get out of there r _ight now_.

"Guys, we need to get out of here!" she shouted at them. They were all confused, except Togami; she saw realisation dawn on his face.

"She's right. We have to leave." he said, urgency clear in his voice.

"Hey, Byakuya, what's wrong?" Hiro asked, oblivious.

"Don't you listen?" Byakuya hissed. "We must leave-"

But he never finished that sentence, as an arrow quickly flew towards him.

Togami was faster, however, and with a flick of the hand, an ice wall erupted in front of him, blocking the arrow and making it shatter into pieces.

"Too late." Togami said grimly, assuming a battle stance.

Suddenly, four men appeared from behind the trees. They looked quite well-off: their clothes look like they were of good quality, and their weapons looked well taken care of. Too bad that they were pointing their weapons at them.

They approached the group, and more and more people appeared from behind trees and bushes: she could count about fifty people in all. They got into a ring formation and slowly started closing in. There was still some distance between them, but she could already see the expression of sheer malice on their face.

"Hiro, weapons," Byakuya coldly ordered as he flicked his hand again. Another ice wall popped up, but this one was much bigger: it completely surrounded the van and the six of them. It was about twenty meters tall: there was no way that they would be able to climb that.

There was one problem, though: they didn't know what was going on outside the ring of ice. What were the bandits doing?

She heard the trunk of the van open and the platform rising agonisingly slowly, but soon she had her sword back on her trembling hands. She quickly realised that this was the first time she would fight so many opponents at once. Adrenaline flowed through her veins, and her mind cleared.

"Who are those guys?" Makoto asked, gripping onto his sword tightly.

"The Mannequins… A gang of bandits," Byakuya explained. "They're one of the biggest thief groups in the country, and putting a dummy in the road is their modus operandi. When the travellers stop to check the 'body' out, they ambush them."

As they waited in anticipation, they all heard something: a sizzling noise, like a burger being fried in a barbecue.

"What is that?" Toko asked, stuttering gone. Her eyes darting around, her normal fear having been replaced by steel.

"It's… melting ice." Kyoko realised. Quickly, she turned; a hole was slowly forming in the impenetrable wall. The flames were eating the ice, hungrily devouring anything that got in their way.

But they couldn't let the bandits decide the flow of events: they had to act.

"Byakuya!" she shouted, and he understood.

With a finger snap, the ice wall collapsed outwards, and Kyoko heard the surprised shouts of the bandits with satisfaction. When the icy mist cleared, she saw that about five bandits had been completely buried by the ice, probably injured or dead. The others were still standing, much to her frustration.

She quickly applied a protection spell to the van and the six of them: magic spread so far wouldn't be very effective, but anything would help.

"Who are you?" she asked the bandit leader. She knew instantly that he was the captain of the squad: his clothes looked expensive, and his axe looked extremely sharp.

The man laughed; a deep, booming laugh that sent shivers down her voice. "Hah, this girl's got sass! Will fetch a good price, won't she, guys?" She heard choruses of agreement as she composed herself: getting angry wouldn't be useful.

"If you want to know that bad, I'm Garrick, the best Fire Mage around. I'm the Captain of this squad. Now, if you want to live, give me all your weapons and your truck!" he shouted at them.

"Stupid plebeian. Do you really think that we will give up?" Byakuya asked mockingly. Garrick's face turned red with anger.

"Who're you saying 'plebeian' to, huh? Men!" he called, and all of them looked at him. He pointed his axe to the group. "Kill the men, capture the women! But leave that one to me," he said, while looking at Byakuya, who glared back. Garrick's eyes held a dangerous gleam that Kyoko did not like at all.

"Yes, sir!" they shouted, and then they closed in.

Instantly, a few of the bandits fired arrows from their crossbows, but their aim was awful. Toko and Byakuya returned fire, and soon a hail of arrows rained over the bandits' heads. But before anything could happen, Garrick created a wall of fire and the arrows were carbonized before they could do any real damage. The fire wall then turned into a blazing dragon that streaked towards them, maw wide open.

"I've got this!" Hina shouted, running forwards. From her palm a giant blast of water came out, dousing the dragon until there was nothing left but dying embers. Hina then turned her attention to a bandit that had tried to stab her with a knife, and pierced him with her trident.

A flash of movement caught Kyoko's attention, and she barely dodged a knife meant for her leg. The bandit smirked, and she slashed at him but didn't hit. The man then lunged at her, knife pointed towards her chest, and without even thinking she stabbed in front of her, her sword going through the man.

His eyes went wide and he collapsed, wheezing. Kyoko stumbled back, horrified: she hadn't wanted to try and kill him! Two of his comrades took him by the arms and dragged him away from the battle, where a medic was waiting.

Still shocked by having hurt someone so badly, she turned only to see another man jump towards her, dagger raised. She barely parried the strike, then quickly disarmed him and hit him with the flat of her blade, knocking him out.

To her right, Hiro shuffled his cards, then raised one. It pictured a man in front of a table, with a wand high in the air.

" _The Magician!"_ Hiro shouted. Instantly, the area around him burst into flames, making the surprised bandits around him catch fire. Their weapons instantly melted and the bandits stumbled back, terrified and shouting.

Hina doused the flames before Garrick could use them, then turned her attention to other attackers. With a swish of her arm, a small geyser burst in front of her, the hot water scalding and burning the bandits, who quickly ran away, screaming.

She also saw Toko fighting: the normally reserved girl was totally different in battle. She attacked ferociously, drowning her opponents in pools of poison, and almost seemed to be enjoying herself.

Makoto was running around and assisting different people, using magic that she assumed must be from his other teammates. He thrust out his arm, and arcs of electricity came out of his fingers, bouncing in the floor and speeding towards opponents, shocking them into unconsciousness.

While the five of them were holding back the bandits, Byakuya was fighting with Garrick. The axeman was good at battle: every ice attack that Byakuya threw he burned away, and he nearly hit Byakuya several times.

Gritting his teeth, Byakuya took an arrow from his quiver and loaded it. The arrow zoomed towards Garrick like a laser, only to uselessly bounce off his axe.

"Ha! Boy, you can't defeat me with those puny arrows. Come on, come at me! Or are you all bark and no bite?" the axeman taunted.

Byakuya glared at him ferociously and gritted his teeth, and the frenetic battle continued.

But Kyoko could see that they were outnumbered: there were too many bandits to fight, and sooner or later they would be overwhelmed. There was only one option: retreat.

"We have to run! We can't fight all of them!" she shouted, before slashing at a thief that had tried to chop her to bits. She saw Hina nodding, flooding her surroundings with cold water to make the brigands stay away.

"Someone has to distract them!" Byakuya shouted, avoiding Garrick's lunge. A sharp ice shard quickly formed in front of him, and it shot towards Garrick, who didn't dodge in time. The shard pierced his armour, and Garrick gasped in surprise and pain, which quickly turned into rage. He shouted and fired arcs of fire from his fingertips, which were barely blocked by Byakuya's ice shield.

"Guys, I'll do this. Get back to the van, now!" Makoto shouted. As the others retreated, Makoto raised his hands up to the sky, closed his eyes and whispered something. Dark miasma started to come out from his hands, quickly spreading around the area and covering the surroundings in total darkness. The spell didn't affect Kyoko and her allies, judging from their expressions: they'd seen this trick more than once.

Kyoko could hear the surprised shouts of the brigands as she made her way to the truck: for some reason, it was much easier for her and her allies to see in the fog than their enemies. She opened the door and climbed in, then fired a stream of water at a bandit who was blindly rushing at the van, knocking him unconscious.

"H-Hey, you ain't fighting fair!" Garrick shouted. With a great oomph, he threw his axe. The deadly projectile zoomed past Toko's ear and missed her by an inch, making her squeak in fright. She retaliated by shooting arrows into the darkness, and was rewarded with several shouts of pain.

Quickly, the rest of them climbed in. "Go!" Hina shouted, and Makoto hit the gas. The truck sped away, leaving only confusion and devastation behind.

* * *

It was dark out when they finally got to the inn in the town. Most of the residents were asleep, but they had encountered quite a few Ultimate Despair members acting as guards. They had inspected the van, but all they'd found was vegetables. They were suspicious as to how the van had such advanced technology though, and had nearly confiscated it: a few discreet brainshocks had solved that problem.

The night had thankfully been uneventful. The six of them hadn't had any problems with going to sleep, and were ready to take on Ultimate Despair and rescue their friends.

After eating a meagre breakfast, Byakuya, Hiro and Toko went to sell the vegetables that they'd transported: they would need a reason to be in the town just in case, and more money would never hurt. Meanwhile, Makoto and Hina showed Kyoko around town.

Even though Ultimate Despair had invaded the town, it was still in a remarkably good state. Although there were some destroyed houses and homeless people, the mood was light and all the citizens seemed to be very optimistic. The economy was not bad either: many shops were still open and prices were not very high.

"Kyoko, look at this! Isn't it so pretty? Come on, let's go!" Hina giggled as she ran in the streets, looking at the different stores. She pulled in Kyoko's arm, ignoring her light-hearted protests, and led her to a stand that sold clothes and was ran by an old lady with a kind face. Makoto trailed behind, smiling at the scene.

Just in case, Kyoko had chosen to wear a hood in the town so no one could recognize her: judging from the group's reaction to her name, she was famous. She'd asked the group from some stories about her, but nobody had enough time in their hands to talk to her. She made a mental note to search for any book that had her name after they'd finished with the rescue.

As they checked out stores, Kyoko saw the sun rise to its highest point. It was an amazing day: the cool breeze stopped them from getting hot, but it wasn't chilly enough to stop them from wearing loose clothing. She could see kids chasing each other giggling and three women chatting animatedly over rumours. A group of people were sitting at the local bar, laughing and talking. The morale was high in the town, and Kyoko could see why the group she was in came here so often. Involuntarily, she smiled, feeling the wind touch her face.

And yet, you could see an air of anticipation, as if doom was looming above the town. It was probably because of the upcoming execution. After asking for the time, she waved at Makoto and Hina to come over.

"It's twelve o'clock. The execution is going to be in five hours," Makoto mentioned, fidgeting; he was worried about his friends, but he shouldn't be. Failure was not an option.

"We're going to meet with the others in two hours at the inn, right?" Hina asked. Kyoko nodded.

"Yes, exactly. We'll review the plan there one last time." she said.

They spent the last two hours looking through shops and talking with people to gain some information. Ultimate Despair hadn't done anything to the town until now, and people were confused and frightened due to the imminent execution. Apart from that the town was perfectly fine. Kyoko hoped that it would stay fine after they rescued Sayaka and Leon, but a nagging feeling told her that it wouldn't.

She also saw Makoto put something in his pocket, but ignored it.

* * *

The six of them were now making their way toward the execution place, and as they got closer, Kyoko could immediately see the mood in the citizens she saw drop more and more. Smiles quickly turned into frowns, and body language was changing: from confident and friendly to huddled and shivering.

All of them had already gotten their weapons from the van, but the question was how to get them into the perimeter. They had a plan just in case there was anyone checking for dangerous items, but it turned out to not be necessary: there wasn't any security, and that worried her. Her idea of the execution being a trap was looking much more likely now.

To prevent anything from going wrong, all of them were also hiding their faces with hats and hoods: if Sayaka or Leon recognized them and gave the fact that they knew each other away, it would get much, much harder to rescue them.

Not many people were attending the execution; it seemed like only about fifty brave souls had come. Kyoko couldn't blame them: some executions were horrific. She remembered one where the victim had been slowly eaten by insects, his terrified guttural screams ringing for what seemed like hours… His gruesome remains had been displayed for the world to see like a disgusting piece of art, almost as if the madman behind it had expected applause, but nobody clapped and cheered: the crowd had stayed silent.

She grunted in pain and put a hand to her forehead: she was burning up for a few seconds, but the heat faded quickly. The last thing she needed was a glimpse of a memory to come back and disorient her. She also felt deep sadness over that memory too, and wondered why. Was the executed person dear to her?

Shaking her head, she replied to her concerned friends that everything was fine, then examined the area. The plaza was bigger than she'd imagined: from one end to the other, there were 30 metres of space. In the middle, she saw the giant statue of Neptune that she'd seen in the guide. It was more impressive seeing it in person: the statue stood tall at six meters, and was surrounded by mermaids, dolphins and all kinds of sea creatures, all crafted in sleek marble.

In the perimeter of the plaza, she could see abandoned stalls and closed shops: the crowd was staying in the perimeter of the plaza, preferring to not get too close. This was good strategically: the crowd would not get in the way of the fighting and there were less chances of them getting injured.

She could also see about twenty Ultimate Despair members, all recognizable by the tell-tale logo that they wore in their leather armour: the head of a bear. One half was white, with a black eye and an inviting smile, while the other was black, with a menacing red eye and a creepy grin. Examining their armour and weaponry, Kyoko couldn't see anything especially threatening. When she looked at their eyes, however…

Their eyes held so much despair that Kyoko could barely look without retching. Their eyes were bloodshot and hollow, holding only emptiness and hopelessness and craziness. There was no saving them, and it was then that Kyoko realised just how dangerous the group was.

The thing that stuck out the most to her was the execution stand. It stood in front of the statue, as if to replace its beauty with malice and ugliness. A small set of stairs let to a wide platform with two things that made Kyoko feel sick. The noose dangled from the wood above it as if it was calling out to someone, and she could see a large mound of twigs gathered in the bottom of a pole.

She looked at her teammates: they all had the same sickened expression that she had. She looked up at the sky and saw only grey clouds: a bad premonition if she'd ever seen one. The wind then started to pick up and blow her hair around… maybe she could use it to her advantage?

Then, her train of thought was completely derailed by Ultimate Despair.

"Hello, everyone, and welcome to the first execution seen in this town… ever!" an Ultimate Despair member shouted. His voice had an extremely high pitch and was very shrill and loud: he sounded as crazy as he was. His logo also had a star on top of it: he was probably the captain of this squad.

"Now, I see that all the expected fifty people have been accounted for, along with some more curious people!" the member said. Kyoko frowned: what did he mean by 'expected'?

That question was answered when the member continued talking. "All fifty of you remember that day, huh? You saw a paper inside your room, which said one thing that made all of you freeze… You had to attend the execution, or else you and your family would be killed!"

The man started to cackle. "Oh, you should have seen the looks in your faces! The despair in having to choose between seeing death and receiving it… That's what we want! The hopelessness, the despair! _Hahahaha!_ " The man started to cry, tears coming out of his demented eyes.

Kyoko saw Hina step forward in anger, and grabbed her arm tightly in caution. She heard Hina sigh, then relent.

The cogs in her brain were already spinning, however. How would they even check if all the 'invited' people came? The question was soon answered as all the other people took out a small leaflet and gave it to the captain, who giggled crazily and turned towards her.

"But hey, I'm surprised that some people came voluntarily! Props to you, guys! Maybe you should join us, since you've got the same lust for bloodshed that we have!"

"But anyway, you've waited long enough, huh? Time for the main act! Presenting to you… The stars of the show… Sayaka Maizono and Leon Kuwata!"

* * *

Kyoko could see the others tense up, probably feeling a mixture of fear, joy and excitement. She had to admit that she was trembling in anticipation, wanting to get it over with already.

She saw ten soldiers come out of a street next to them, all of them wielding weapons. But the thing that caught her attention were the two people that were being dragged by chains behind them.

She heard Makoto and the crowd gasp in shock, and turned to see the others in various states of surprise and fury. Byakuya glared at the soldiers with rage in his eyes: if looks could kill, they would have been dead already. Toko was clenching her fists, all timidity gone from the normally shy girl. Hiro and Hina looked ready to storm up to the soldiers and kill them, while Makoto just looked so shocked Kyoko felt a bit sorry for him.

Sayaka and Leon looked horrible, much worse than how they'd looked like in the poster. Sayaka's formerly beautiful face now was filled with bruises and cuts, and her hair was chopped and dishevelled. Leon's face held, among other wounds, a nasty gash in his left cheek, and he was walking with a limp. The pathetic clothes that they wore were far too thin to keep out the chilly wind, and she could see them shiver, faces blue. Both of them also had gags in their mouths and wore handcuffs.

And yet, their eyes didn't look defeated or hopeless: they held a shine that made Kyoko feel hopeful. In their iris, she could see determination, hope and defiance, without any trace of despair. Seeing that made her feel hopeful herself, and she felt absolutely sure that her plan was going to work. Failure was not an option.

As the others had predicted, Sayaka and Leon were being dragged by anti-magic chains. The chains were coated with a special ointment that stopped the magic user unfortunate enough to be caught from casting magic. The chains were extremely uncomfortable too so you couldn't run away; she knew from experience. The guards in Jabberwock Prison always chained prisoners before a meal and before bedtime, and she hadn't been an exception.

She watched in anticipation as the guards walked Sayaka and Leon up the stairs: it seemed like the others. The crowd was still dead quiet: she could hear the cries of the birds as they flew in the sky. Sayaka was chained to the pole, while Leon was forced to stand there and watch.

The moment Sayaka's and Leon's gags had been removed, Leon started shouting incoherently at his captors. His voice was rough and brittle, yet strong. A guard snarled and walked up to him, then punched him in the face, making Leon cry out. The UD members around him started to laugh, as Leon shook his head and eyed them warily.

The captain had marched up to Sayaka. "Hello, sweetie. You've caused a lot of trouble for us, you know? Stealing supplies, resisting our 'efforts' and 'discipline' to get information… You need a lesson, young lady. But then again, maybe I could forgive you if you got down in your knees and begged, hmm? Come on, give me a kiss and I'll spare you. What do you say?" he asked, honeyed voice disguising the abominable words.

Sayaka's response was to spit on him.

The captain's eyes sharpened, and his mannerisms changed completely. His voice turned cold and commanding, and he glared at Sayaka in contained fury. "Oh, so that's how you want to play it, huh?" He then raised his hand, and slapped her, then wiped off the spit in disgust.

Sayaka winced, but didn't say anything. She continued to glare at the captain, who grinned at her: Kyoko didn't like that smile. It was full of malice and anger, along with a touch of satisfaction.

"Men!" he called, and all the other soldiers turned to look at him. "Burn her first!"

She heard Makoto draw in a sharp breath. "Kyoko, we need to do something, _now_." he said urgently.

"We have to wait for the right moment." she responded, although she did feel very anxious too. If this went wrong, then- no, it couldn't go wrong. There was no way.

She saw a soldier light up the torch, and heard the frenzied cheers of the other soldiers. The person with the torch slowly approached Sayaka, with an evil sneer in his face. Kyoko saw Sayaka's eyes start to well with tears, while still having defiance.

She saw the executioner bring down the torch.

And she heard herself saying "Hina, _now_!"

A giant blast of water in the shape of a pair of jaws surged out of Hina's palms, extinguishing the flame and pushing the executioner into a wall. Kyoko heard the sickening crunch, and saw the executioner collapse like a puppet with its strings cut.

The captain turned around, surprise in his eyes. "What the-"

Those were the last words he would ever say, because with a snap of Byakuya's fingers, the captain was frozen solid. Covered with thick ice, the captain could only look with wide eyes. Another snap and the ice exploded, sending deadly ice shards in every direction. They cut into the soldiers, and Kyoko gained a dark satisfaction from hearing their screams. The shards didn't damage Sayaka, Leon or the terrified crowd of villagers at all; Kyoko had already put a protective shield on them.

Makoto had already made his way to his friends. He murmured something, then touched Sayaka's anti-magic chain. After a grey flash, the shackles snapped open, liberating the shocked girl, and the chain flew towards an unsuspecting soldier, strangling him into unconsciousness.

The second Sayaka had been freed, she started coughing uncontrollably, but the fit ended after a few seconds. She then turned and looked at Makoto, and embraced him tightly. Kyoko could see that Sayaka's eyes were full of happy tears.

"Are you guys all right?" Makoto asked after liberating Leon. The two boys hi-fived, then hugged each other. After Sayaka and Leon reassuring Makoto, he turned his attention back to the battle. The chain that had kept Leon prisoner quickly melted into a burning hot blob, which Makoto flung at a soldier that was attacking Hina. The soldier screamed in pain, which gave Hina an easy opening to knock him out.

Kyoko started going towards the execution stand, but an Ultimate Despair soldier lunged at her, sword in hand. She side-stepped his swing, then blew him away with a gust of wind. At her side, Toko was firing bursts of arrows: any victim would soon collapse, foaming at the mouth, and Kyoko suspected that Toko had laced the arrows' tips with poison.

Byakuya was next to the execution stand, and was trying to ward away any attackers with freezing winds. He lightly stomped on the ground, and the earth started to tremble, knocking several enemies down. A huge ice wall then erupted from the ground: an unfortunate soul was stupid enough to touch it, and was instantly frozen solid. The pieces then shattered, leaving nothing behind. The other soldiers backed off warily, looking at each other with alarmed eyes and shouting.

The crowd had already fled: it was just them and the soldiers. She fended off an attack from another person, then approached the ice wall warily. Another grunt fired an arrow at her and she dodged, stumbled back and… passed through the ice wall unharmed.

Inside, she saw Byakuya holding onto the wall, channelling more power into it. He was exhausted: his breathing was short and laboured and he looked like he was going to fall any moment, but his eyes were as sharp as ever.

"I can only hold on for a minute or so, so get ready." Byakuya said with difficulty. Kyoko could also see Hiro, Hina and Toko inside: they'd obviously known that they could pass through. They were checking up on Sayaka and Leon.

"You're Kyoko… right?" Leon managed to stammer out before he broke onto a coughing fit. He could see his leg more clearly at that distance: it was obviously broken. Sayaka was drinking something; a tonic or water, maybe?

"Hey, conserve your energy," Hina gently reminded him. "You guys have been through a lot… I'm sorry we couldn't save you sooner." She looked at the side, downcast.

"Hina… No, I'm sorry. I made a mistake, and that's the whole reason why Leon's in such a bad condition and you guys were so worried and it's all my fault and-" Sayaka started breathing heavily and sharply: she was hyperventilating. Her eyes were wide open and her pupils had shrunk. Sayaka was having a panic attack.

But before anything could happen to her, Hina hugged her tightly, sniffled, and burst into tears.

"Sayaka… Leon… I'm so sorry!" Hina sobbed.

Sayaka started to cry too, and Kyoko's heart warmed as she saw the two girls console each other. The heartwarming moment was ruined by Byakuya, but then again Kyoko should have suspected it.

"If you're done licking each other's wound like the peasants you are, the wall will collapse in thirty seconds, so get ready and pair up," Byakuya said. Despite the harsh words, his voice had softened a tiny bit… or was that just Kyoko's imagination?

Toko instantly went up to Byakuya, who sighed in irritation. Makoto helped Leon up and draped Leon's arm over his shoulders to support him. Hina and Hiro partnered without saying much, while Sayaka made her way towards Kyoko.

"You're Kyoko, right? I don't know you much, but it looks like you're friends with everyone here. Let's do this, okay?" Sayaka then smiled at Kyoko, and she didn't feel any animosity towards her. She smiled back, and said "Yes, let's do it."

"Five… four… three… two… one… _zero_!"

* * *

The instant Byakuya stopped touching the wall, it crumbled, then collapsed outwards. Kyoko heard shouts and screams, and saw that a fine mist was starting to form from the remains of the wall.

She grabbed Sayaka's arm and ran to the left; she saw the other groups go to their respective streets, too. A soldier threw something towards her: a gust of wind deflected it, and a blast of water from her palm knocked the man out.

Her feet were aching and her throat was dry, but she continued running. Sayaka was struggling to keep the pace, but she could manage for another couple of minutes.

Then, misfortune struck. At the end of her street, she saw a barricade made out of five men, all armed and ready for battle.

"End of the road for you, ladies," the leader said, grinning maliciously.

"We'll see about that," Kyoko responded. She stepped in front of Sayaka and drew her sword.

Four charged towards her, the fifth one aiming his arrow. She parried a dagger's strike, then brainshocked one man into unconsciousness, the man's limbs suddenly giving out. She saw his white blank eyes and felt a bit creeped-out, but the others were more scared than her.

"Crap, she's got magic!" one of them shouted while rolling a spherical object (a grenade?) towards her. She kicked it back towards them, and the resulting explosion put two more down for the count.

But then her luck ran out. The archer's arrow zoomed towards her and hit her in the chest, plunging into her heart. She froze, then looked down in disbelief. What had happened?

Then, it hit her. She was going to die, and Sayaka would be captured. Her vision started to blur, and tears started forming in her eyes. She didn't want to die, not like this! She still had so much to do… She needed to find her father!

Suddenly, Sayaka stepped forward. The archer aimed another arrow at her, ready to shoot. The captain smirked. "Come on, miss. Give up, or we'll kill you," he said.

Her legs started to wobble, and she keeled over. Looking down at her chest, she saw blood coming out, staining the clothes Hina had bought for her. Hina… one of many people she'd never say goodbye to. But maybe Sayaka didn't have to suffer the same fate as her.

She weakly tugged at Sayaka's trousers, and tried to speak, but no words came. Sayaka looked down at her, and she didn't see desperation or despair. She only saw fury.

"You…" she muttered, and even in her near-death state, Kyoko could hear the sheer anger. Sayaka looked (and probably was) a sweet girl, but in that moment she sounded like a monster.

She stepped forward. "You've tried to kill my friend." Another step. "You tortured Leon and me." And another. "But worst of all… you did those things just for fun." She glared at the soldiers, who stepped back, momentarily intimidated.

The captain, however, gained his bravado back pretty quickly. "So what are you going to do, huh? Sing us to death?" he sneered at her. His fate was sealed.

Sayaka shrugged. "Pretty much."

But before any of the other two could react, Sayaka opened her mouth, breathed in, and started to sing.

It was a bewitching song, with a fast tempo, a high pitch and a loud voice. Kyoko didn't understand what Sayaka was saying, but the song sounded aggressive and powerful. It reminded her of a ferocious battle between two armies, and a clash between two interests. The two men soon started groaning and screaming in pain. They dropped their weapons and covered their ears, but it was no use: the song continued, and the pain persisted.

Eventually, the song concluded with a dynamic finish, and the two men dropped to the ground, comatose. Sayaka soon ran up to her, but Kyoko's vision was fading quickly. The world was little more than a blur, and all sense of touch was lost.

Sayaka then started to sing again, but the song was completely different. Sayaka sang quietly and peacefully, but the song gave Kyoko a feeling of optimism. It made her think of lying down in a field, smelling the flowers and the fresh grass and lying under a tree with her friends without any worries. The song made her feel good, and soon her vision cleared.

The first thing she saw was Sayaka's smiling face. "Are you all right?" she asked, and Kyoko could hear the tiredness in her voice.

She looked down, and couldn't believe her eyes. The blood was gone, and the only trace of her wound was a scar. She looked at Sayaka again, and saw a twinkle of happiness in her eyes.

"Music Magic has a lot of variety," Sayaka explained while helping Kyoko up. "I can attack, heal, help…"

"That- that was amazing, Sayaka," Kyoko said, and was surprised to hear her own voice stutter. She was more surprised at Sayaka's impressive stunt, though.

Sayaka laughed, and it sounded completely peaceful and happy. "Thanks, Kyoko! But now's really not the time: we have to get going." she said.

Kyoko heard footsteps and shouts behind them: Ultimate Despair was catching up to them. "You're right," she said. "Let's go!"

And while they ran towards hope, in another place, far away, others ran towards despair…

* * *

"Sis, you saw the whole battle, right?"

"Yeah… But why couldn't I have just killed them?"

"Sis, you're sooooo stupid. It makes sense that I'm the smart one in the family, while you're a stupid brainless stinky pig."

"Oh… sorry, sister."

"But anyway, to answer your worthless question, it's more fun that way!"

"W-What?"

"A total victory without any mistakes is boring, so I'm going to make it more interesting! Let's see where these guys go, huh? You go guys, I'm your number one fan!"

"And you sacrificed our troops for that?"

"Sheesh, Mukuro, just shut up! Nobody wants to hear you speak. But anyway… Let's see where that group goes. Will they rise to the top… or will they despairingly fall against the mighty Junko Enoshima?"

* * *

 **Jeez, that was a doozy!**

 **Anyway, first off, our first real action is here! Sorry rocks, but you don't count. I hope you liked the fighting scenes and the interactions between the characters, and if you think that I can improve on anything, please inform me. Criticism is appreciated!**

 **The group managed to save Sayaka and Leon, which is good for them. I actually thought about killing Sayaka and Leon, but I decided to not do it. I _might_ end up killing a major character though... _wink wink_.**

 **Here's a rough draft of the bad ending. In a videogame version, you'd gain this if you didn't make your way to the execution stand fast enough (I imagine a videogame version of this story as a Fire Emblem-like game)**

 _She saw a soldier light up the torch, and heard the frenzied cheers of the other soldiers. The person with the torch slowly approached Sayaka, with an evil sneer in his face. Kyoko saw Sayaka's eyes start to well with tears, while still having defiance._

 _She saw the executioner bring down the torch._

 _She heard Sayaka's agonized screams as she was burned alive._

 _She heard Leon's choked splutters as he was being hanged._

 _She remembered falling down to her knees in despair, and her world going black for the last time._

 **Fortunately for everyone (except Junko, maybe), that didn't happen. Moving on!**

 **Next chapter there will be two FTEs, so vote for two people! You can't vote for the same person twice though.**

 **Your choices are...**

 _Aoi Asahina, the friendly and emotional Water Mage_

 _Byakuya Togami, the intelligent and arrogant Chill Mage_

 _Yasuhiro Hagakure, the laid-back and gullible Mind Mage_

 _Toko Fukawa, the eccentric and unsociable Poison Mage_

 _Sayaka Maizono, the sweet and supportive Music Mage_

 _Leon Kuwata, the hotblooded and optimistic Fire Mage_

 **Kyoko's Magic is...**

 _Air Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (?)_

 _Protection Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (?)_

 _Water Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (Aoi Asahina)_

 _Mind Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (Yasuhiro Hagakure)_

 **Suggestions (only five left!)**

 _Weapons- Chihiro, Hifumi_

 _Magic- Fuyuhiko, Nekomaru, Teruteru_

 **Thanks for reading, and have a good day!**

 **P.S. To Percy Jackson: Pokemon Woods readers, I haven't given up on the story yet! The new chapter's in progress, so please be a bit patient.**


	6. Lost in the Music

**Hello everyone! Before anything, for those waiting for a Pokemon Woods chapter, please wait a couple of weeks more, as I am working on not only the chapter, but also a side-project about that story that I hope will please the readers. For those who are here about La Esperanza... well, enjoy!**

* * *

The return to Hope's Peak Academy had been long, exhausting and both physically and emotionally draining. Even if everyone was ecstatic at having some of their friends back, the group was too tired to even speak: even Makoto, who was normally the most open of the group, only concentrated on driving and said little.

At the very least, they weren't crammed. Byakuya had simply conjured a car made out of ice, and had dragged Hiro and Leon over there before Toko could jump at the chance. They could see the ice-blue vehicle right next to them, and see the sullen and serious face of the occupants.

As for Leon and Sayaka's injuries, the worst was healed thanks to Sayaka's magic, but Leon and Sayaka still needed to spend a night in the infirmary: music magic did not specialise in healing and healing Kyoko's arrow wound had taken a lot of energy out of Sayaka. Makoto had volunteered immediately to help to absolutely no one's surprise, and Kyoko volunteered too, not only out of duty; she also wanted to ask Makoto and the injured pair some questions.

Kyoko had taken the co-driver's seat, while Hina sighed in relief that there was more space behind. She had loudly shouted at Byakuya for not doing the car trick, and he had responded that he had needed to conserve his energy for the rescue. Grudgingly, Hina had admitted that he had a good point.

Sayaka, for her part, had been wistfully staring out of the window for the entire trip, not once saying anything. Kyoko was extremely concerned for both Sayaka's and Leon's psychological scars: Jabberwock Prison had been hell, but the guards hadn't taken any special interest in her, which was strange as they had known that she was Kyoko Kirigiri. Who knows what memories Sayaka and Leon were trying to forget?

The second all of them had made it back, everyone had gone to their rooms without having dinner or saying a word. Kyoko had dropped off her sword in her room, changed into her bed-clothes and returned to the infirmary, spellbook in hand.

When she arrived at the infirmary, she saw Sayaka and Leon laying down on the beds. Next to each of the beds was a machine with lots of cables that attached themselves to the two patients. The screen was filling up with information as the machine recorded everything it could find about their state. Makoto was typing into one of the machines, his face set in absolute concentration; when he noticed her presence, however, his face brightened.

"Kyoko!" he whispered. "I'm glad you're here. I could use some help," he admitted, biting his lip.

While approaching her fellow Spectrum Mage, Kyoko looked at the two patients. Leon was barely awake: he kept blinking, trying to stay awake, and yawned several times. Sayaka, however, did not look sleepy at all: rather, she looked fully aware of her surroundings, and faintly smiled at her. Kyoko smiled back.

"What do you need?" she asked Makoto. Looking up at her, he waved her towards the machines. He also picked up a red bracelet from a nearby desk, and handed it to her.

"These bracelets are linked to the machines. If any anomaly or important change happens in the patient's physical and mental health, they sound an alarm. You have the one linked to Sayaka," he explained.

Kyoko then inspected the machines. "The machines constantly monitor the patient's condition, and can also run several tests of the patient's health. I have already run the 'lethal injuries' test, and see nothing potentially life-threatening." That was some advanced technology right there. Hope's Peak Academy looked like it deserved its reputation.

She frowned. "Wait, that's strange. Weren't Sayaka and Leon tortured by Ultimate Despair?"

At this, Makoto bit his lip, shifted his feet and looked away from her: all clear signs of nervousness. Makoto was too open for his own book: she could read him like a book, even if there had already been times he had surprised her.

He took a deep breath, then explained. "Ultimate Despair can kill, dismember and hurt… But its real strength is psychological torture. No-one comes out of Ultimate Despair's torture sessions the same. I have seen people turn into a drooling, quivering wreck… Or even be inflicted with so much despair that they either join their captures or…" and at this he paused. "Or they take their own lives."

"That's awful," Kyoko whispered, surprised but not too shocked. She had already suspected that when she saw Sayaka's behaviour in the truck, and Makoto had only confirmed her suspicions, but that truth was still a horrible one.

"I'm really worried about Sayaka and Leon…" he quietly told her. "They probably have deep scars from the torture. The others already know about this, and will help the two of them recover. It will be slow, but it's better than nothing. Could you sleep here and make some observations on their sleeping behaviour? I don't know if it's too much to ask for, but…"

Kyoko quickly interrupted him. "Of course I will, Makoto. I understand that they have suffered a traumatizing experience, and will help the best I can in helping them recover."

Makoto smiled widely. "Really? Thanks, Kyoko. If you need anything, you can call me… oh, wait," Makoto facepalmed before taking something out of his pocket. Kyoko recognized it as the object he had bought yesterday, but seen closer, it was obviously a purple phone with a touch-screen.

"I got it from the only electronics-supplier in the town. He's hiding his things from Ultimate Despair, but agreed to sell me this after I promised to give him a big amount of fruits and vegetables." Makoto smiled weakly, and handed the phone to her.

"I've already registered all of us here as contacts, but apart from that, it's brand new. The Wi-Fi in the school is excellent, thanks to Chihiro's magic and programming skills. And, um…" At this moment Makoto started blushing lightly. He then timidly looked at her and asked insecurely, "Do you like it?"

Kyoko felt… happy. It was nice to be given a gift by a friend, and the thought of Makoto thinking about her when buying the device made her lightly smile. "Yes, I like it a lot," she said.

The small boy's face instantly cheered up. "Oh, that's good. That's great! Um, yeah… I mean…" He was blushing fiercely, avoiding any eye contact however possible. "Thank you for the favour, and see you tomorrow!" he told her, and then rushed out, smiling to himself.

How strange. Makoto's behaviour hadn't been normal at all… What had been the reason to turn him into a stuttering mess? Shaking her head, she looked at the patients only to see Sayaka giggle to herself and smile at her widely, before winking. But was it just her, or did that smile look fake?

Shaking her head, Kyoko prepared herself for a long time awake.

It was at 3 am when the screaming began.

Until then, Kyoko had been monitoring the screens on the machines with bloodshot eyes. Everything had been normal, from the breathing rhythms to any physical conditions. She'd noticed the cables protruding from the machine injecting fluids into the sleeping Sayaka and Leon, and was currently watching the stabilizing and soothing effect the fluids were producing on the pair.

She was sipping a cup of coffee when her bracelet suddenly starting whining. It was a droning, incessant, high-pitched noise that made it impossible to focus on anything else. Gritting her teeth, she checked on Sayaka's screen, and her eyes widened upon seeing what was happening.

Sayaka was in the REM phase, but she did not appear restful at all. The only muscles that worked in REM sleep were the breathing, heart-beating and eye-movement muscles, but those were all she needed to convey what was happening. Her chest was rapidly rising and falling, and the short, deep breaths indicated panic. On the screen, Sayaka's heart rate and blood pressure rates were high, but her body temperature was low. With a pang, Kyoko realised that the poor girl was having a nightmare. "Sayaka," she whispered. When that didn't seem to have any effect, she shouted loudly, "Sayaka!"

That did the trick. With a quiet gasp, Sayaka's eyes snapped open. Kyoko noticed her dilated pupils, as well as how she was frantically looking around the room, scared and vulnerable. Sayaka's eyes then zeroed in on her, and then… Sayaka started _growling_ , like a wild animal. A primal sound from centuries ago suddenly rose up again from Sayaka's throat, and Kyoko stumbled back, shocked. It was then that something clicked in Sayaka's mind, and she suddenly sat down on her bed. Kyoko approached warily, and muttered "Sayaka?"

Sayaka wearily opened her eyes, and looked at her: Kyoko noticed that her pupils were back to their normal size, but also that her eyes were starting to form tears. A sound built up in Sayaka's mouth; a cross between a whine and a cry. It was then and there that Sayaka started crying, sobs wracking her whole body, reflecting her mental torment, making her body shudder; a body, that Kyoko realised, was too fragile for this harsh world. Moonlight shone on Sayaka as Kyoko approached, showing her ruined delicate features, as well as her many scars that Kyoko hadn't noticed. She realised that Sayaka had put on a fake smile just for her when she was shot, and attacking the soldiers had been her way of getting revenge for everything they had done.

Kyoko felt, for the first time, uncomfortable. She had noticed that she was not good at all with emotions, and wondered if her past non-amnesiac self had ever consoled someone. The least she could do, however, was to give Sayaka a shoulder to cry on. So, she approached the crying girl, and sat down next to her. Sayaka's puffy eyes looked at her, but the girl didn't say anything. Kyoko then pulled Sayaka into an awkward one-armed hug. She didn't know what to say, but hoped that actions were more than enough. What she didn't expect was Sayaka clinging onto her arm like it was a lifeline, and burying her crying face in Kyoko's chest: her hands were cold. While surprised at first, she couldn't help letting out a sad smile.

As the seconds went by, she could feel the muscles in Sayaka's arm start to relax, and her grip to lessen. Sayaka's breathing was getting more and more controlled, and eventually, she let go of her arm. The Music mage then stared at her, blinking eyes the only sign that she was alive.

"I-I'm sorry," Sayaka said. Kyoko looked at her, surprised that she had spoken. Her voice was brittle and pushed to the breaking point: it looked like the famous teen pop idol wouldn't sing again.

Wait… why did she think that Sayaka was a pop idol?

Kyoko dismissed the thought for the moment however, as there was a far more important thing right in front of her. "No need to apologize," she quickly replied.

Sayaka laughed, but the sound held no mirth; rather, it sounded empty and hollow. "What are you talking about? You-you've seen how I acted like a beast…" At this her voice seemed to tighten with anger. "Like a brute, a monster, one of those sick despairs!"

Oh. That made sense… Makoto had mentioned earlier how Ultimate Despair's speciality was psychological torture. It seemed like they had pushed Sayaka near the breaking point, and the defiance Kyoko had seen when Sayaka was about to be executed had been only the shard of sanity she had left.

She needed to handle this carefully, because extremely bad things could happen here if she said one wrong word. A slip of the tongue would mean game over for Sayaka's sanity and trust, and while she would need to be delicate about questioning Sayaka, Kyoko _needed_ information about what had happened to help her.

"Sayaka… I'm going to try and help you. Could you answer some questions?" Kyoko started the questioning, feeling as if she was moving a pawn forward in a twisted game of chess.

Whatever Sayaka had expected Kyoko to say, it hadn't been that. "Wh-What?" she whispered, shocked. "You're… going to help me?"

"Of course," Kyoko replied, troubled by Sayaka's astonishingly low self-esteem.

"I thought that you would say I was a despair freak…" Sayaka gloomily muttered, before looking at her in the eyes. Despite Sayaka's words, she seemed to have cheered up a bit. "Okay, what do you want to ask?"

"What were the circumstances of your capture?" Kyoko asked. She had gotten some bare details, but hadn't pressed much on it. This would give her the opportunity to learn more, as well as make Sayaka start talking. The capture itself wasn't what traumatized her, so according to her assumptions, Sayaka should have been able to talk easily.

"It was… er… twelve days ago, now. We were raiding an Ultimate Despair base for weapons- not for personal use, mind you, but rather to destroy them."

"Wouldn't it be better to raid the factories?" Kyoko pressed gently. Sayaka frowned, and explained that the factories were normally under extremely tight surveillance. That was a grave problem that needed to be taken care of. Kyoko told Sayaka to continue with her story.

"The reason we were captured… Leon accidentally triggered the alarm by opening an alarmed door, so we had to abandon the heist and tried to run… But all the exits were blocked by guards. Their twisted smiles were… ugh." Sayaka grimaced and looked away, obviously uncomfortable with remembering the experience.

"You can do this, Sayaka," Kyoko murmured, in order to give her confidence. Sayaka nodded, and continued.

"Anyway, then things got worse. The General arrived."

"The General of the Despair Army?" Kyoko asked. That was a shocking revelation, but also a useful one.

"I assume so… Their head was covered by a helmet, so I could not see their face or hair, and I couldn't tell their gender either. And the rest of their body was covered by combat armour… That said, the soldiers did part way for them, and they carried themselves with a feeling of security and authority."

Kyoko bit her lip: that was not information she wanted to hear. While she ruminated about the General, Sayaka continued.

"So we had to fight to escape. I mind-controlled the soldiers with my magic, and then Leon and the others took them out while they were easy pickings. But the General wasn't affected… they came down, avoiding everything. I also remember that one of Byakuya's arrows destroyed one of the gloves, and in one hand there was… a burn mark, I think. Something black."

"A burn mark…" Kyoko muttered. That would be helpful in finding out the identity of the general.

"Then she just came down there and fired a gun. She aimed for Makoto, but… I got in the way and got hit instead."

"A gun? But I don't see any gunshot wounds, and I haven't heard you mention any of them."

"Well, I thought it was a gun. But then, when I woke up, I realised it was a tranquiliser gun," Sayaka admitted. "I later found out from Leon that he'd just charged forward to distract the General while the others escaped. I think that's everything."

So those were the whole circumstances of her capture… It seemed like she had sacrificed her freedom for Makoto's. Still, it would be wise to remember the details: they could be useful clues.

She decided to ask a different line of questioning. "Sayaka… What kind of person do you think you are?"

At this, Sayaka's face tightened with self-anger and sadness. "I thought you already knew… Do you want me to repeat it?"

Saying something there could go very badly very quickly, so Kyoko remained silent and waited.

Sayaka took a deep breath. "I suppose the silence means yes… Okay. I think I'm a selfish, stupid, disgusting mockery of a person." The more she talked, the more her voice became higher-pitched and louder until she practically shouted "Is that good enough for you?"

So Sayaka still believed she was a failure… She needed to prove her wrong and show her that she was, in fact, a good person. And she had a clue to prove it.

"No, that's wrong!" Kyoko shouted, palms smashing against the desk. After looking to see if Leon was still asleep (he was out cold), she faced Sayaka.

"You're _not_ a bad person. A bad person would have left me to die and conserved their strength when I got shot. An evil person would have let their friend take the dart. A Despair would never do all of those actions!"

And just like that, one of Sayaka's defences had been destroyed. The girl recoiled, eyes widened. "Really? You think I'm not a bad person?" she asked.

"Of course not! Why would I?" Kyoko responded, slightly confused.

"Oh… But… Why do you like me?" Sayaka was clutching her head now, eyes closed and face frowning. "Nobody here does, so why…?"

So that was the other part of her argument… Nobody liked her? Kyoko did not have any concrete proof to refute that statement, even though there was plenty of psychological evidence to suggest it. She would have to listen to Sayaka's argument until she could find something that proved someone cared about her, and then build her case up from there.

However, that meant that she would have to ask Sayaka about her experiences in the prison, which would set off quite a lot of traumatic experiences. She'd have to not say anything sometimes and only press when it was strictly necessary.

"Sayaka… Tell me about your experiences while captured. Where were you imprisoned?"

Sayaka's face went pale, but she responded to the question anyway. "I… I don't know, honestly. When I woke up, I was in the cell, and we were blindfolded before being put into the van that led us to Spalvale."

No clues there… She'd just have to go for the elephant in the room.

"What… What did they do to you when you were captured?"

At this, Sayaka's face went perfectly blank, not even eyes betraying a hint of emotion. "Could we not… could you ask something else? Anything but that…"

"Sayaka, I need to ask you this for your own good. You have to tell me everything, okay?" Kyoko pressed.

"I have to?" Sayaka sighed, the sound charged with resignation and sadness. "Well, I suppose I have to… Okay then." Sayaka took a deep breath, while Kyoko waited in silence, not once telling her to hurry up.

"The first few days, we were locked in a small cell. They only fed us once a day and the food was little more than breadcrumbs and a sip of water. There were faeces and puddles of urine everywhere, and quite a lot of creepy insects and rats… Ugh." Sayaka shivered, mouth forming a grimace as she remembered the dank cell.

"But that was far from the worst thing. Am I right?" Kyoko pressed lightly, not knowing if Sayaka would dawdle on, lost in memories.

"R-Right. After a few days, with little food and water, and no beds but the floor to sleep, it started."

Sayaka bit her lip before continuing. "They… They blindfolded us and brought us to a room. They tied us down to our chairs, and took the blindfold off before something was put to our eyes; some kind of virtual reality googles, I think. And we were forced to watch videos."

"Videos?" Kyoko asked.

"Y-Yes, videos. Awful, horrific videos, that I could not believe even existed. You..." At this point Sayaka's voice broke, and tears started coming again. "You do not want to know what happened in them."

"If it's not too much of a bother… could you describe one of them for me?" Who was she kidding? Of course it was a bother, she was forcing the girl to remember horrific details, even if she did need it!

However, Sayaka didn't even look offended, just resigned. "I knew you'd say that. Okay, then." Sayaka then paused and closed her eyes, preparing herself. "One video started with showing the face of a little girl, no more than 5 years old. She was in a house, and she looked well-fed and happy… but those eyes betrayed her real emotions."

Kyoko felt her blood run cold. "You're referring to despair, right?"

"Yes. The girl then flashed a grin… it was terrifying. It was a predator's smile, with the teeth showing, and the evil intent clear. She then turned around, revealing that the camera was in her hand, and her mother then said "Mika, time for dinner!". The girl then raced downstairs, and I saw that there was a mother, a father and a baby. And then… oh, god. Oh my god, no!"

Sayaka then started to scream, tears flowing down her eyes as she relived the video. Kyoko tried to calm her down, but to no avail. After a good few minutes of sobbing, Sayaka was composed enough (although still crying) to continue.

"The girl… picked up a kitchen knife, then ran up and stabbed the mother. You could see the mother's shocked expression, the blood pouring down from the injury… The girl then retrieved the knife from the mother's chest and, with a dreadful scream from the mother, a cry from the baby and a cackle from the girl, she stabbed her mother again. The woman collapsed, and… she stabbed so many times… so much blood…"

"So much grief…" Kyoko whispered, unable to believe it.

"The camera then faced the father, and you could see so much fear, so much shock… He screamed "When did this happen?", and then the girl… She picked up a frying pan, and smashed it on the father's head… He fell to the floor, and then she stomped on his head… so many times, the camera filming the entire while… I-I can't do this anymore, I'm sorry…"

Kyoko kept silent, not wanting to say anything that might trigger Sayaka.

"Then, she picked up the baby… and threw him into the fire… You could see the skin burning, melting, the crying becoming more guttural, more distorted, more _wrong_. Everything was wrong, nothing made sense! Then the girl… she just… opened a drawer… poured gasoline all over her… put the camera on the table, and smiled one last time… then lit a match and lit herself on fire. She did not even scream, she just… slowly collapsed into herself, her entire body burning. And then the video ended." Sayaka then glared at Kyoko, eyes narrowed in fury. "Happy now?" she nearly screamed, eyes full of tears.

"So much despair…" Kyoko muttered, shocked. She could not blame Sayaka at all for being so traumatized and sensitive, not after this. Ultimate Despair's psychological torture was… inhuman. _Wrong_.

"And… and that's why I tampered with Leon's machine," Sayaka confessed, voice having gained a bit of strength.

"You… modified Leon's torture monitor? I did not know you were good with machines…" Kyoko asked. This could be useful information, in case they needed some technological help.

"Yes… It was... is it after midnight?" Sayaka asked. Kyoko checked her new phone: it was now 3:30 am. She told Sayaka the time. "Seven days ago, then. Half of the Despair members with us were… doing something to Leon, and the others were with me, in the room, while I was watching the videos. Then, there was an alarm about how a prisoner had escaped from the prison we were in, and all of the Despairs rushed out."

"Wait… Seven days ago… That's when I escaped from Jabberwock Prison," Kyoko responded, feeling all of the pieces of the puzzle come into place. "You were imprisoned in the same prison as me."

"Really?" Sayaka asked, covering her mouth, eyes wide open. "We were probably in an isolation cell… Did they never torture you with the videos?"

"No… Quite strange. They did torture me physically, but not psychologically. I wonder if there was any reason why…" Kyoko muttered.

"They… they did torture us physically as well, but it was nothing compared to the psychological torture," Sayaka responded. That answered some questions, but left one big one to be answered: why hadn't they tortured her, whose identity the jailers clearly knew, with the videos?

"Anyway, please continue with your story, Sayaka. How did you modify Leon's machine?"

"It was actually quite simple. The top part of the machine had the function of being easily taken off and put back on. Underneath it were switches with their functions highlighted, and I deactivated the switches that said things such as "Add mentally exhausting sounds" and "Intensify despair to maximum". I did the same to my machine, but I was found out while in the act." Sayaka explained, calming down the more she talked about non-torture topics.

"And they didn't check Leon's?" Kyoko pressed.

"I assume that they thought that I had only modified mine…" Sayaka answered, unsure.

"Anything else about the machines, Sayaka?"

"Er… Oh, yes! There was the name of the producer of the machine in the side. It said… Kaziuchi Soada?"

"Kazuichi Souda," Kyoko muttered, feeling her heart in her throat. This seemed to confirm it: as Kazuichi Souda had made both the helicopter (unconfirmed, due to coming from her unreliable pre-amnesia flashbacks) and the video machine (confirmed, as Sayaka had seen the name), it was quite likely that that man, whoever he was, was working with Ultimate Despair. She would need to do research on him, quickly.

She had just one more question for Sayaka, one that she hoped would finally convinced her that she was liked. "Sayaka.. why did you do Leon's monitor first?"

"Well… He's helped me a lot. He's always been supportive, and even gave me some of his food share in the prison. Without him… I doubt I would have surived."

And there it was. The weak point in her statement.

"Sayaka, do you even realise what you've said?" Kyoko asked, smirking despite herself.

"H-huh?" Sayaka asked, head tilted to one side.

"If Leon has always been supportive, then at the very least, one person does like you, correct?"

"No! I-I mean, I…"

"Sayaka, stop! Can't you see that everyone here cares about you?" Kyoko cut through her words, not even letting Sayaka say a complete line.

"If we hated you, would we have planned so much, and trained so much for this moment? Would everyone else here have been sad and angry when they learned you were imprisoned? Would we have gone there, fought many Despairs, and risked our lives to save you? Even if we cared only about Leon, we could have just rescued him and left you stranded! But no; we rescued both of you, because we care about both of you! We are going to help you get through this, we will get all your friends back, and the entire class will be united again, got it?" Kyoko asked, only stopping at the end to catch her breath. Sayaka stared at her in complete shock, and Kyoko could feel adrenaline pumping through her.

"So… you're wrong, Sayaka. People do care about you. And as long as people care about you… _you can't lose hope_!"

Checkmate. Kyoko had won the battle of wills. And as she rubbed her forehead due to the sudden lack of adrenaline, she could hear Sayaka's soft voice saying "Thank you, Kyoko."

Looking up, she could see that any traces of Sayaka's despair were gone. All that was left was an innocent girl, with peaceful eyes and a smiling mouth. Sayaka had finally made peace with herself.

 _And then time stopped. Sayaka's smile still stirred Kyoko's heart whenever she looked at it, even through the world's grey filter, but far more interesting was the orb coming out of Sayaka's chest, going towards Kyoko._

 _The orb was coloured faded brown, the same colour as an old music sheet. It whizzed around her head, and Kyoko could nearly hear infinite symphonies, voices and instruments resounding as one. The orb then quickly shook, as if bowing for a successful performance, then entered Kyoko._

 ** _Music._** _A special form of art, capable of displaying pure and raw emotions._

When the world went back to normal, Kyoko was surprised to hear soft breathing alongside Leon's loud snoring. Looking at Sayaka, Kyoko was surprised to see her lying in the bed, fast asleep.

The surprise soon passed, only to be replaced by peaceful happiness. She had fond feelings for the girl sleeping in front of her, and knew that they would become stalwart allies and great friends. For now though, sleep sounded attractive.

"Good night, Sayaka," Kyoko whispered before the darkness overtook her.

* * *

 **This didn't take very long to write, but it was still quite a doozy for me! Before you say anything, I felt that this chapter was long enough as it was, and with Fukawa's FTE as well, it would be too long. So I'm doing Fukawa's FTE in the next chapter, along with another FTE that you guys will decide. I'm very sorry for anyone who expected two FTEs in one chapter.**

 **Okay, who to vote on? Here are the options.**

 _Aoi Asahina, the friendly and emotional Water Mage_

 _Byakuya Togami, the intelligent and arrogant Chill Mage_

 _Yasuhiro Hagakure, the laid-back and gullible Mind Mage_

 _Toko Fukawa, the eccentric and unsociable Poison Mage_

 _Sayaka Maizono, the sweet and supportive Music Mage_

 _Leon Kuwata, the hotblooded and optimistic Fire Mage_

 **Kyoko's magic:**

 _Air Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (?)_

 _Protection Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (?)_

 _Water Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (Aoi Asahina)_

 _Mind Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (Yasuhiro Hagakure)_

 _Music Magic - Lv 1, Beginner (Sayaka Maizono)_

 **Suggestions:**

 **Weapons:** None!

 **Magic:** The same stubborn three: Fuyuhiko, Nekomaru and Teruteru. I'm pretty sure I've got an idea of what they need, but any suggestions are accepted.

 **Thanks for reading, everyone! Have a nice day!**


	7. Anti-Freeze

With only the light of a lamp and the scratch of pen on paper as company, Kyoko sat writing in her room.

The paper she was writing on was the result of several drafts and scrapped ideas written and sketched on another piece of paper. Two days had passed since the rescue of Sayaka and Leon, and Kyoko had been steadily working on it when she was not occupied on her chores and duties.

With a deep sigh, she set the pen down and stretched. With a gleam in her eyes, she proudly looked down at her work. Staring back at her were a number of lines; more accurately, questions that she did not know the answer to yet.

From simple questions such as "Who am I?" and "How did I lose my memories?" to things such as Ultimate Despair's origin and their motivations, it was all written there. She also wondered about how they recruited people into their group: she had considered methods such as brainwashing or threats, but it was more likely that it was a mixture of both.

Her reasoning for that logic was the experiences with Ultimate Despair that she'd had. The jailers in Jabberwock Prison were everywhere in the sanity spectrum: from the pitiful and scared reserve jailers to the truly sadistic torturers. The man who had orchestrated the execution all those days ago had been a truly insane man until he'd been frozen solid and shattered into thousands of bloody pieces. His behaviour towards Sayaka had proved that.

What made her curious were the eyes of the people in despair. Red was not a very common eye colour, yet all the people in despair seemed to have their iris a deep crimson. Not all of them, actually… the jailers who were part of Ultimate Despair did not have red eyes, but the torturers did have them: she saw their piercing glare through the hood they all wore.

Were the red eyes an indicator of deep despair? It would give her and her frien- allies an easy way to identify people in despair, unless they used eye contacts or sunglasses. Still, it could be useful.

Another thing that worried her was her own status. She was supposedly renowned as a world-leading mage with amazing powers, yet she was weaker than her allies. Where did all of that supposed power go? Did something happen to her to make her lose her magic? Or was she being mistaken for someone else?

Sighing, she let the matter go. She could form many hypotheses and conditionals, but they wouldn't help her. What she needed was cold, hard evidence, and she would not obtain that from deliberating at one thirty in the morning. She needed sleep to gather her thoughts and discuss things with her partners.

And so, the day was over.

* * *

Kyoko's day started at six thirty: it had turned out that after getting over the shock and tiredness from prison, she was an early riser.

After a quick shower and putting on her clothes, she managed to get over to the cafeteria. After taking out some peach and apple, she started eating, noticing to her surprise that she did miss somewhat the chatter that usually accompanied her breakfast.

However, the last person she expected to accompany her just when she was finishing was none other than the esteemed Byakuya Togami.

In hindsight, it should not have been so surprising: Makoto and Toko had gone to Spalvale to see how it was holding up, and Hina and Hiro were not morning people.

He scoffed at her, and she rolled her eyes back. She had even spoken more with Toko than with him, and so she barely knew anything about him. From what she had witnessed, Togami seemed to be rude, self-centred and snappy, but he was also down-to-earth, witty and definitely reliable. He wasn't the type to lose his head or panic, but rather keep them all focused. She also definitely appreciated his power both offensively and defensively, but that was secondary to his personality.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to spend some time with him?

Her idea was almost immediately shot down when she asked him. His reply was a scornful laugh. "I have no intentions of wasting my time with you," he told her.

Well, he was definitely rude.

"It couldn't hurt to talk, at least about useful information. We could share strategies or tips," Kyoko offered.

"I don't believe you have anything of any value to offer me," Togami said. He then suddenly smirked. "That said, we could play a little game…"

That intrigued Kyoko. As long as it was not dangerous or harmful, it wouldn't hurt to humour the Ice Mage.

"Meet me in the library in an hour." And with that, he turned around and went to get food while a confused Kyoko walked out.

An hour and five minutes later, Kyoko was waiting in the library. Byakuya hadn't shown up yet, and Kyoko was ready to leave. She'd spent her time reading her spell-book and her list, and while she had learned a bit more about how magic worked, she could have spent her time doing something else. She was closing her book when Byakuya came in, posture screaming confidence in your face.

"Fashionably late, huh?" Kyoko muttered. Byakuya scoffed, as if what she was saying was utterly absurd. He placed something he was holding in the table, then turned to face her.

"A Togami is never late," he responded, smiling smugly while crossing his arms. Kyoko resisted the urge to fire off a barb or a comment, and instead looked at the box Byakuya had brought.

"What is that?" she asked, pointing to the box. Byakuya smirked and sat down opposite Kyoko, then opened the box. Inside was a board in a squared pattern, squares alternating between black and white. There was also a bag with various pieces of different shapes, sizes and colour inside.

"I know that it is quite stereotypical for snobbish and rich people to play chess, but the plebeians can think whatever for all I care. Have you ever played?" Byakuya asked.

"Hmm…" Kyoko only made a non-committed noise as she thought. She knew the names of the pieces and what they did, but she couldn't say that she'd ever played a match.

"I don't think so," she told him. Byakuya shrugged and started to set it up while explaining the rules.

"There are two sides, white and black. White always goes first…" Byakuya said as he set the pieces up. After telling her a few basic rules, he talked about how each of the pieces could only move certain ways.

Kyoko would have thought that Byakuya was a bad teacher, but he explained the rules simply and clearly. Without thinking about it, her opinion of him was slowly improving.

Byakuya gave her the black side, and told her to try to defend against him. "Don't worry if you do badly; this is your first match, after all," he said, and Kyoko nodded, shocked that the cold Byakuya had said that. He was a lot more human than she thought.

That said, actually playing was intimidating. Staring at the board, Kyoko didn't know what to move. The easiest and most obvious move was to move a pawn, but was that too predictable? And would she move one or two squares? Which pawn should she move?

Oblivious to her inner thoughts, Byakuya moved the pawn in front of her king two squares forward. He then withdrew his hand, and stared at her. Kyoko felt as if she was being torn apart, the man's gaze analysing every possible outcome. She decided to mirror his move, and moved the pawn in front of her king two squares forward as well.

Byakuya smirked. Had she made a mistake? It was too late to do anything, however, and she could merely watch as Byakuya started to attack.

The Ice Mage moved his queen as further diagonally as he could, using the space that was left open by his pawn. Not knowing what to do, Kyoko moved her right-side horse, hoping that it would achieve _something_.

It didn't help at all. Byakuya moved his right-side bishop until it was in front of her moved horse, with only one space between them. She moved her other horse, and her last chance was gone.

Byakuya moved forwards, captured the pawn in front of the bishop his queen and placed the piece in front of her left bishop.

"Checkmate," he said. While definitely sounding smug, his voice also carried some sympathy. Biting her lip while quickly inspecting the board, Kyoko saw that he was right: the queen covered the space in front of the king, and the bishop stopped her from capturing the queen. She had lost.

Kyoko clenched her fists, but she wasn't angry, she was just disappointed. She'd lost so quickly that she'd barely had time to process what had been going on. Byakuya had beaten her in less than five minutes!

"Don't feel too bad," Byakuya said. Kyoko noticed that he was not wearing a sneer of contempt, but rather a glare and a mouth set in a hard line. "The Scholar's Mate is an easy trap to fall into when you're a mere beginner. And if a person like me struggled with chess at first, someone like you would as well."

"…" Kyoko kept silent. While Byakuya's words did contain his usual disdain and self-aggrandisement, they were also meant to console her.

"Let's start another match and see how you do," Byakuya said.

And so, another match started, and then another one, and another one. Even if Kyoko kept losing, she realised that she was getting better. Not by a lot, but she was improving. When Byakuya tried to trap her with the Scholar's Mate again in the fourth match, she moved the pawn in front of the left knight in order to block the queen. When the white queen retreated, Kyoko moved her left knight in order to create a solid defence.

"Hmm… Not bad. It looks like you've learned the basics," Byakuya said, smirking lightly. Then he did a series of moves that Kyoko could not figure out the meaning of until it was too late and won. "As it should be," the smug man drawled.

After a couple of more hours, Byakuya started putting the pieces and the chessboard back into the box he'd brought. Compared to when he had arrived, it seemed like he had mellowed out; he wasn't on an ego trip like he seemed to be about 100% of the time.

"It seems as if this wasn't as much of a waste of time as I thought it would be…" Byakuya muttered, almost as if he was speaking to himself. When he looked at Kyoko, his eyes sharpened; she could detect interest.

"You are certainly an interesting individual, Kyoko Kirigiri. After some time, you might be able to be at the level of my shoes in chess." Kyoko rolled her eyes: it seemed as if chess was the only thing that could stop Byakuya from being a snarky prick.

"I would not be opposed to facing you again. Perhaps I would be able to teach you some strategies?" Byakuya smirked, as if he was looking forward to that. He then turned around and started heading toward the library's exit.

"Hold on. Weren't we going to trade information?" Kyoko asked. Without even turning around, Byakuya responded.

"It would be more beneficial for everyone to listen. We can discuss it at lunchtime." And with that, he was gone.

 _And then the world slowed down to a stop. Frowning, Kyoko looked around. She had not thought that Byakuya would actually hold a modicum of interest and companionship towards her, but it seemed like she was incorrect._

 _Slowly, almost as if testing her patience, a light-blue orb entered the room. As if bored or dismissive of her, it took its sweet time getting to where she was, before entering her after a light touch. And in that moment, there was only one thought in her mind:_

 ** _Ice._** _A strange element, delicate, lonely and cold, but also sharp, strong and very dangerous._

As time returned to normal, Kyoko heard Byakuya lightly grunt from outside the room. It was a light sound, but it was enough to finally convince her: her powers hurt.

Whenever she absorbed, or copied, a power… It seemed as if it hurt the target. Even if reactions had varied between people, it had still hurt. Was that the case with Makoto as well? Was there a way to disable this effect?

She'd need to talk with Makoto later.

* * *

At lunch, Makoto and Toko finally arrived. They seemed tired, but Makoto had a smile on his face and Toko looked a bit less grumpy than normal. Makoto also had a bag in his hand, which he put in the table.

Hina, Hiro and Byakuya were over in the storeroom getting food. Toko sighed and headed over as well, as did Makoto and Kyoko after a moment. The silence that was only broken by rustling and tins clinging together was quite unusual, considering how Hina, Hiro and Toko were prone to numerous excited (or in Toko's case, ranting) outbursts.

When all of them had everything they needed, Byakuya pointed at the bag Makoto had brought, which was laying on top of the table. "What is that?"

Makoto looked to the side, smiling. "Uh… It's nothing, I promise. Just something someone gave me. It's a surprise for Hina."

Byakuya rolled his eyes, but seemed to understand. For her part, Kyoko was confused. Did Hina request something to Makoto?

The answer was revealed as soon as Makoto opened the bag when Hina came near. A sweet scent wafted out of the mysterious contents and into their noses. In the first sniff, Hina's eyes widened. "No way…" she muttered.

She came closer to the bag, sniffing all the way. Kyoko was reminded of a dog- a friendly, loyal, hungry dog. She gingerly grabbed the bag as if afraid that she would rip it or hurt its contents. Hina peered inside, and her eyes widened even further. She let out a gasp and covered her mouth with a hand; the bag dangled from the other.

"Makoto… how…?" Hina's voice was slightly wavering. Kyoko was even more confused: was Hina getting emotional over food? She supposed that they had all been eating subpar food for quite a long time, but she did not share the same emotive feeling with Hina. Was there another reason?

Makoto smiled, looking at her. His eyes were shining, but he didn't say anything.

"W-Wow. I… I don't know what to say," Hina admitted, looking to the side to hide her slightly watering eyes. She stood frozen, her body tense, as if she didn't know what to do.

"Thank you. I-I- wow, I can't speak," Hina laughed, as if attempting to laugh off her actions. "Thank you so much…"

"If you're going to thank anyone, thank Toko." Makoto mentioned, beaming. Now that was unexpected. Toko actually caring about anyone? Apparently Hina shared the same thought, as she simply stared at Makoto, unable to compute what he'd said.

"She was the one who saw those doughnuts in the bakery, you know. She even sold the baker one of her drafts to pay for them!" Makoto mentioned.

"W-What? There was no way Toko would do that!" Hina said, now even more shocked. "Toko, your drafts are, like, your treasures! You never let us read them, and you sold one of them just like that? For me?" Hina slowly approached Toko, who blushed and looked away.

"Ugh, s-stop it, you s-stupid swimmer! I… it wasn't like that. I-It's not like you're my f-friend or a-anything!" Toko said, turning away from Hina and muttering to herself.

"Toko… Thank you." Even though some surprise was still there, it had mostly been replaced by genuine gratitude. Hina beamed at Toko: the biggest smile she'd seen in a while.

"U-Ugh, whatever." Toko had apparently brushed Hina's words aside, but Kyoko could notice that, for the first time ever, Toko was smiling. It wasn't ugly.

"Wait… What is inside that bag?" Kyoko asked.

"Donuts!" Hina exclaimed happily.

"…" A small part of Kyoko wanted to leave. How could such an emotive scene be caused by a bagel covered with sugar? She didn't know what caused more diabetes: the scene or the donuts.

But never mind that. The point was that those… donuts had somehow helped both Hina and Toko, and that was a very good thing, no matter how it had happened.

"What's wrong? You don't like donuts?" It seemed as if Hina was returning back to normal. She was currently looking at Kyoko, head tilted in confusion.

"I… well, I don't remember ever trying one…?" Kyoko trailed off. She had not had many sweet things except fruit, which she liked. Maybe she would end up liking the sugary treat…

"Oh my god. What?" Hina's voice gradually raised in pitch until she was screaming at the end. She was staring at Kyoko in a mixture of wonder and pity, as if she'd seen her favourite singer fall off the stage.

"Is something wrong? I would prefer to have breakfast without insects disturbing the silence." Byakuya's voice sharply cut across the conversation, leaving Hina speechless and a tiny bit angry. Unfortunately for Kyoko, Hina was not done with her interrogation yet.

"You've never had a donut." Kyoko shook her head. "Never. Really? I-I can't believe this, wow. Well," and at this Hina grabbed Kyoko's hand and dragged her towards a chair, making her sit down, "you're going to try one right now!"

After hesitating briefly, she conceded after seeing Hina's hopeful smile. Honestly, that girl was going to be the death of her. She felt around the bag, nearly recoiling when touching the oil splotches that covered it, before touching something round and soft. A donut.

It was at this point that Kyoko realised that everyone was silent, looking in interest (Makoto, Hiro, obviously Hina and strangely Toko) or sipping their coffee-machine coffee (the resident smartass). It was frankly quite amusing that many of them were taking this so seriously, but she decided to humour them. After all, they were… her friends. And this would be a fun experience, as well as a new taste. It couldn't hurt.

That said, the feeling of grabbing anything without her gloves on was strange. The burn scars were still there, but after seeing Sayaka and Leon, she realised that there was no point in keeping them hidden; she had already accepted them, and moved on past them.

The feeling of sugar on her fingers made her want to wash her hands: it was very strange, to feel something grainy and tiny and sticky, and then she saw the donut in all of its round, holey glory.

As it neared her mouth, Kyoko wasn't sure how she was feeling. Excited to try something new? Apprehensive of the unknown sweet taste? Afraid of disliking the deep-fried dessert? But it didn't matter, she decided. After all, she had faced things much worse than a doughnut.

The sugary bagel stopped near her mouth until it opened, like a car waiting for a drawbridge…

And then it went in just as her mouth closed and her teeth dug in.

As she finished the doughnut, Kyoko looked at her hands: they were full of sugar and a small amount of glaze. She felt the strange urge to lick them.

The solemn silence was broken by Hina. "So? How did it taste?"

As Kyoko sucked in air, the world seemed to stop and wait with a baited breath.

"Meh," she said, shrugging.

Hina's shocked shout not only was entirely unexpected, it also was extremely loud. So loud, in fact, that Byakuya lost his grip on his coffee mug. All eyes turned to the shocked Ice Mage as the mug slipped… slightly turned… and dramatically hurled its hot contents onto Byakuya's shirt, before falling onto the floor and shattering into fragments.

For a few seconds, nobody said anything. Soundlessly, Byakuya looked down at his soaked shirt, the pure white turned into muddy brown. He swallowed forcefully, as if forcing words down his throat, then looked at Hina. His smouldering eyes seemed to be piercing Hina, tearing her apart. If glares could kill… well, the only thing remaining would be a neat pile of ashes.

"Hina." The words were restrained, barely concealing full-blown anger. Wide open eyes stared into Hina's soul, as if sucking out her essence.

"Eeep." That was the only thing Hina could reply. A small, barely-heard squeak, like a mouse staring at a cat.

Then hell broke loose.

* * *

"Jeez, I'm kind of jealous of you guys. Having fun while leaving poor little old me cold, sad and alone…" Sayaka mock-pouted, saying the words with a childish, almost baby-like voice.

"Wow, Sayaka, comedy gold," Leon muttered. Despite his words, he was smiling.

It was great seeing the two of them joke around. Kyoko was smiling as well as she handed them the remainder of the doughnuts. The once plentiful supply had been greatly reduced after Hina's rampage, as well as the rest of them. When she saw Byakuya dipping his doughnut in his coffee (a crime, in her opinion) she had to leave.

"Wow, doughnuts! It's been so long since I've had one…" Sayaka said happily. Leon nodded in agreement, biting into the treat with gusto. The two machines that regulated their health then beeped, the sound piercing through the happy atmosphere and bringing them back to the real world.

"Sorry, let me check what they say." Kyoko excused herself, then slightly moved in order to see the machines. Thankfully, it was nothing special, just that the amount of sugar and glucose in the blood had risen.

She looked back at the pair, only to slightly grimace when she saw all the tubes and various medical things still attached to them. Luckily, most of their wounds had meant to cause pain and not actually injury, so Sayaka and Leon had nearly recovered their physical health. And Kyoko would make sure that their mental health fully recovered as well.

Sayaka, fortunately, had not had a breakdown since her talk with Kyoko. The morning after the rescue, Makoto had talked to the two in private. She didn't know what he had said, but the chat had worked wonders: the next time Kyoko came in to deliver food, the two looked at peace.

"Damn, it's good! Hina must've had a field day," Leon mentioned, sighing in content when he finished his doughnut. Kyoko chuckled dryly, remembering just how quickly the doughnuts had… mysteriously volatilised.

"She ate five." Kyoko said. At this, both Sayaka and Leon flashed smiles: that definitely sounded like their friend Hina. "Hiro and Toko had to share."

"Ha! Well, that's definitely like the Hina I know." Leon brought up a hand to his hair, and scratched it in thought. "Surprising that she managed to find doughnuts though…"

"Well, about that… It was Toko who got them. She sold one of her drafts to make up for it." After saying this, the reactions were immediate. Leon snorted in disbelief, eyes wide like plates. Sayaka started choking on her doughnut before Kyoko hurried to her side and pat her back.

"S-Sorry, Kyoko… But Toko? Out of all people, Toko?" Sayaka asked, still surprised. It was frankly sad that all of them, while not hostile or uncaring towards Toko, still did not expect her to consider them a friend. She'd have to speak with her later, maybe try to get her more involved with the group.

But for now, she was focusing on the responses. "A draft, huh? Damn, Toko nearly killed me when I tried to look at one," Leon mentioned. "I'm pretty surprised she actually did something for us…"

"Why? Do you not trust her?" Kyoko asked. From what she had seen, Toko wasn't hated, but she also was not liked. She was just there, occasionally complaining.

"Of course I do!" Sayaka responded, and Kyoko was surprised by how angry she suddenly got. "It's just that Toko hasn't been very open with us."

"Yeah, exactly," Leon added. "Even back during our school days, she didn't hang out with us much. But she has gotten worse ever since we were locked down in the school."

So Toko's personality had soured ever since Ultimate Despair spread over the world? Obviously, that would ruin the happiness of pretty much everyone, but If Toko had once been friendlier, she should be able to return to being nicer.

That said, she would have time to do something later. For now, all she needed to do was talk with the two patients.

"Well, I have good news," Kyoko mentioned. The two of them fixed their gazes on her.

"Unless anything happens, you guys will be able to leave the clinic tomorrow." Kyoko informed.

Truth be told, that had been a difficult decision to make. She had personally opposed it, along with Byakuya and Toko, saying that they should stay in bed for at least three more days in order to be completely sure that there wasn't anything wrong. The other three had argued that the machines had not detected any anomaly in their stable and quick recovery, and so why should not they taste freedom sooner?

Although at first, she had only agreed reluctantly, seeing Sayaka and Leon's faces brighten up nearly made it worth it – not that she would ever tell anyone.

* * *

It was late evening, and Kyoko was currently in the library, trying to find a book. She was searching for a murder mystery story, and finally she found something: A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes book.

Instantly drawn in, she settled down in one of the chairs and started reading. She was so engrossed in the tale that she barely noticed when another book-lover came into the room.

"Ugh." The sigh of annoyance was what made Kyoko pay attention to the person in the room. Toko was looking at her in disdain, and started to leave.

"Toko… I didn't know you were going to be here. Am I bothering you in any way?" Kyoko asked. She actually wanted to talk to Toko in order to clear the air and find out a couple of things.

"N-No, don't worry. I w-was just leaving a-anyway," Toko stammered. She opened the door, but Kyoko called out.

"It wouldn't hurt to talk a bit, you know." Reluctantly, Toko made her way near Kyoko. She pulled a chair, and sat down.

"U-Ugh… Why a-are you doing this? A-Are you trying to insult m-me? Show me just h-how much of a p-pig I am?" Toko shouted, face suddenly turning purple.

Surprised both at the sudden aggression and at the extreme self-deprecation, Kyoko tried to play it safe.

"It's nothing like that," Kyoko said, trying to quieten down the frightened girl. Honestly, the more she thought about it, the less appealing her idea turned. If Toko wanted to be left alone, then she would let her.

"I just thought that we could talk about something. What kind of books do you like?" Kyoko asked. Going from her 'drafts', Kyoko got the idea that Toko not only liked writing, but also reading.

"A-Ah… W-Well, I-I like… romance… aaaaah…" The weird girl then looked up at the ceiling, eyes becoming glassy and unfocused. Were her cheeks blushing? When Toko started panting, Kyoko decided that it was becoming too weird.

"And what is your favourite book then?" Even if on the inside Kyoko cringed at Toko's actions, on the outside she was trying to seem as approachable as possible.

"H-Ha! Y-You naive fool!" Suddenly, Toko started shouting. "Y-You really think that r-readers only have o-one favourite book? W-Wrong!"

As Kyoko inched away from Toko, the latter continued raging. "There are s-so many good romance books, I-I can't like all of them!"

Toko then stomped up to a bookshelf: it was an unnaturally forceful move for such a quiet girl. She pulled out a book, not caring about the other books flopping onto their sides, and returned.

"Look at this! Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen, 1813. The quintessential love novel! How the five sisters each try to find their own love, and how Jane and Elizabeth find happiness at the end… It's absolutely fantastic!" And with those passionate words, Toko dumped the book in front of Kyoko, squashing the Sherlock Holmes book.

Kyoko tilted her head. She dimly remembered the name of the book from somewhere, as a love story that was ahead of its time. Even if her gut told her that she was normally disgusted by the sheer sappiness and fantastic situations in romance novels, it would be interesting to read such a well-liked story.

"A-And…" Toko pulled out another book from a bookshelf, more carefully this time. It seemed as if she was running out of steam, but Kyoko had seen the burning passion the girl held for books. The footsteps were muffled by the carpeted floor as Toko came back to her spot beside Kyoko.

With a soft thump, another book was piled on top of her detective novel. This one read 'Jane Eyre'. Toko described it as a 'passionate description of Jane's growth to adulthood and the trials in her lifetime culminating in a deep loving relationship'.

"S-So, as you can see, unless you're a t-thick-headed ox, the two stories are s-so different, I can't choose between them." With a final barb, Toko finished her long-winded spiel.

Kyoko sighed, but camouflaged it with a cough. Truth be told, she didn't know what the point of that was. That said, it did allow her to know more about Toko, so her time hadn't been completely wasted.

And it wouldn't hurt to read these books. True, romance was probably one of the few things in life she couldn't understand… but maybe the experience would give her a hint.

"I could read both of them. I'll tell you what I think after I finish them, and then we could compare the two books," Kyoko said.

Toko looked so surprised, so shocked, Kyoko would have thought that she'd threatened to murder her whole family if she didn't know any better. Quickly, the grouchy mask came back out, but it was accompanied by a slight blush.

"H-Huh… Well, that could be interesting," Toko said. Kyoko was surprised that she was actually taking the idea seriously. She would have thought that Toko would flat-out reject, and tell her that she didn't need 'an uncultured troll's opinion'.

"I'll start reading now, okay?" Kyoko asked, and before Toko could object, she pulled out Pride and Prejudice from the pile and opened it. Toko opened her mouth, but did not said anything.

" _IT is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man with possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife._ " That was the opening line of the book, a line that set the overall theme.

The opening dialogue between the parents was quite interesting and definitely set the idea of a woman marrying for honour and wealth, but not for love. As she leafed through the book, Kyoko had to admit that she was hooked. The characterisation of the various party guests, as well as how Mr Bingley showed signs of affection towards Elizabeth was interesting, as well as how Mr Darcy was only interested in Jane, but was nearly revolted by Elizabeth.

She was so invested, in fact, that she did not see Toko staring at her, eyes narrowed and searching for any sign of a negative reaction.

At the end of Chapter 3, she sighed and put the book down on top of the table. Toko made a strangled sound – it reminded her of a dying animal – when she folded a corner of the last page she'd read as a bookmark, but didn't say anything until after she'd finished setting up for her next reading.

"W-What did you think?" Toko asked, a hint of apprehension mixed with her usual grouchiness.

"Surprisingly good, I think," Kyoko responded. She then started telling Toko about her thoughts on the story, Toko nodding along and occasionally providing comments and insights on the characters. All in all, it was a very interesting talk and Kyoko definitely wanted to read more.

"Hmmm… I guess I was wrong in y-your taste…" Toko muttered as she stood up and started heading out. "U-Ugh, b-but we're not friends yet, o-okay?" she then said, blushing furiously.

Kyoko snorted. "Yeah, sure…"

 _And as if to spite Toko, the world's clock stopped ticking. "Ha!" Kyoko thought: the Poison Mage had clearly taken a liking to her, despite what her harsh words told. It seemed as if Toko wasn't a bad person deep down; she'd need to spend more time with her to find out more, however._

 _A deep purple orb came out of Toko, rapidly zooming around the room as if angry with her, then suddenly stopping in front of Kyoko. Without hesitation, the orb then was absorbed into her heart as she felt one more piece she needed fall into place._

 ** _Poison._** _Although brutal and feared, many cures are made out of poisons._

Right after Toko left the library, refusing any help after her slight stumble, Kyoko stood up as well, ready to leave. She grabbed the three books on the table, smiling slightly when she remembered her promise with Toko: quite a lot of reading was in the future for her.

And so, her day ended.

"Sister… we've found one of them."

"Huuuuh? By 'them', do you mean one of your missing braincells, or the piece of asbestos you're going to eat?"

"Err… no. I mean one of that… resistance group. The Electric Mage. The one that I fought?"

"Ah, yes, I had nearly forgotten about that. I wonder: why did you not capture him, if you managed to overpower him?"

"Uh…"

"Haahahaha! Well, it doesn't fucking matter! This… this just gives me more and more despair! The despair that I love!"

"Sister… What should we do?"

"You want a plan? Ugh, how boring… It's just like you, sister… so boring and boring and boring and boring… I could just kill myself over and over and over again because of you…"

"…"

"Whelp, of course I'll give you a plan! Puhuhuhuhu… Let's see those hopeful faces drown in despair!"

* * *

 **Aaaand... it's finally done!**

 **Sorry for the delay! Been watching too much V3. Wow... the ending was definitely special.**

 **Anyways, I'm happy to say that all weapons and magic powers have been figured out! Thank you very much to everyone who suggested anything: it helped a lot!**

 **Well, if everything goes smoothly, see you soon!**


	8. Burning Up

**Hello, everyone! I finally managed to find enough motivation to update my fics, so more updates should be coming soon! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Kyoko was awoken from a troubled sleep by a knock on the door.

She rubbed her eyes, then opened them just to see darkness. Standing up and stumbling over to the light switch, she had to rapidly blink to clear the sudden spots in her vision away to see the time - according to the clock in her wall, it was about 7:00.

"Kyoko, are you up?" That voice couldn't be anyone other than Makoto. It sounded hesitant, as if he was nervous. He had obvious reasons to be - after all, they were going to disconnect Leon and Sayaka from the machines they were hooked up to.

She was still somewhat apprehensive about that decision, as her mind constantly supplied her with too many mental images of what could go wrong and how it would be all her fault. She shook her head to clear away her thoughts, then replied. "Give me ten minutes."

After quickly showering and changing clothes, she opened her door five minutes afterwards to find Makoto standing outside her room. He looked tired: deep purple bags hung under his eyes, and though they lit up when they saw her, the way he was almost swaying and his rapid blinking made it clear that he hadn't slept well, similarly to her.

They made small talk while they walked to the infirmary, but none of them were really feeling up to it. Makoto was tightening his hands so much he was digging his fingernails into his palms - the skin was turning white. Kyoko was worried as well, but… they'd already decided. There was no turning back.

When they arrived at the infirmary, the only noises were the patients' soft breathing as they slept and the machine's constant beeping, showing their heart beat rate. Sayaka and Leon looked peaceful, sleeping faces being lit by the screen's sickly green colour. Various tubes were connected to their bodies, different liquids passing through them.

As Makoto was more experienced with the machines, he was the one who started pressing buttons in the machine to prepare for the procedure. Meanwhile, Kyoko turned on the lights, then gently shook and called Leon and Sayaka's names to wake them up. The two were tired and sleepy, but they had a glow in their eyes that made it clear they were looking forward to being, after being confined for so long, free.

Makoto started lecturing on what was going to happen. The machines would firstly run a final test to make sure everything was in order. Afterwards, they would disconnect the tubes and pipes that were all around the patients' bodies. They'd give a report of what the patients should and shouldn't do over the following week, and then… well, that was it.

Obviously, before anything happened, consent was needed. That turned out to be unnecessary: just as Makoto had finished asking, the two had instantly broken into simultaneous, enthusiastic agreement. He looked befuddled, but nodded, and after one moment to swallow bile or saliva, he pressed the button.

The machines suddenly came to life. A monotone voice issued a warning to not move as much as the patients could, an order that Sayaka and Leon readily obeyed. Kyoko took a glance at her gloved hands, and found much to her shock that they were shaking.

Why was she so nervous about this? Why was she so invested into these people's health?

Why… why did she care so much about them?

Small bursts of what memories she had came back to her. Telling Sayaka and Leon they were going to be freed the next day. Rolling her eyes at one of Leon's jokes. Comforting Sayaka the night the pair was rescued. Sayaka healing her mortal wound in that alley.

A blue-haired girl in a high-school uniform and a red-haired boy in a white shirt and jacket and so many other people smiling at her, eyes lighting up, and opening their mouths to say-

"It looks like there's no risk in letting you guys stop resting." Makoto's voice snapped Kyoko out of her thoughts, and she hurriedly focused in order to catch what he was going to say next. "There's some slight muscle atrophy and malnutrition, but the machines have been stimulating your muscles… so it's only slight, that's normal in this situation, I guess… There's nothing really major." Makoto smiled as he said these words, eyes crinkling and shining with some emotion Kyoko couldn't describe. "You guys are all right to proceed."

Leon started cheering loudly and while less exuberant, Sayaka's quiet sigh was still telling of her complete and utter relief. After being bound and shackled for so long, first in a prison, then some more in an infirmary, was it any wonder that they wanted to have some independence?

The machines then warned that they were going to begin extracting their tubes out of the patients. Again, they asked for permission, which was promptly given by Makoto's shaking hand after looking at Leon and Sayaka for approval.

And then, a few moments afterwards, it was done.

Immediately after the machines gave the all-clear, Makoto rushed to Sayaka and Leon's side, Kyoko staying behind. Makoto launched into a series of blubbering questions that blended into each other - were they all right, how did they feel, were they ready to stand up. Leon, eyes oddly bright, laughed and patted Makoto's arm, told him they were fine. Sayaka's expression was one of sheer anticipation: she was practically buzzing.

Kyoko stood back. This… this was something special that she shouldn't be intruding on. Makoto had been friends with Sayaka and Leon for years, and trusted them with his life. She shouldn't interfere in this moment. She had no right.

Carefully, as if he was handling a porcelain statue, Makoto grabbed Leon's shoulders and thighs and helped him into a sitting position. He then did the same for Sayaka, whose forehead was matted with sweat, hair askew. Sniffling quietly, he then put his hands behind Leon's trembling back, rocked back and forth, and _pulled_.

And Leon stood up. He finally stood up.

It was then that Makoto finally broke down.

It started with a hitch in his breath as he helped Leon take the first step. Then it became a tremor that ran down his entire body. And then, when Leon, who was looking at him with such a raw mixture of emotions it made Kyoko's heart ache, pulled him tight against his chest, Makoto started to cry.

It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't quiet either. It was messy, and loud, and so goddamned full of feeling Kyoko was stunned into silence. Makoto clung to Leon tight like a lifeline, body wracking with sobs, as if he was going to fade away like a spirit if he ever let go. His eyes, puffy and red, were full of tears that cascaded down his face and dropped on the ground like hard, heavy stones, full of regrets. Apologies tumbled out of his mouth, full of pleading and regret and sadness and rage and yet so much relief.

Leon's eyes were brimming with tears and so much… so much fondness for his friend it made Kyoko feel… lost. Out of place. He wore a shaky smile - for Makoto's sake, but the way his body was shivering gave away his true feelings. He murmured things into Makoto's ear, quiet, calming words she couldn't make out. Still sitting, Sayaka seemed to be overcome with emotion as well. Her face was buried beneath her pale hands, but Kyoko could hear her stifled whimpers under all the chaos.

All of a sudden, Kyoko noticed her face burned. Her frame was trembling uncontrollably, as if being battered by a harsh, cruel wind, and her eyes stung: when she rubbed them she noticed the unmistakable sight of moisture in her gloves. Those… those were tears. She was crying.

She was crying for people she barely even knew. Hell, for all she knew they might have been her enemies in her past life! Those tears she shed were a symbol of her sympathy, of her anger, of her hope. Why did she spill them on behalf of these people?

But then again… they had treated her with such kindness. When she'd been lost and prepared to die alone in the desert, Makoto had saved her. And after that, none of them had treated her badly, or placed unreasonable expectations on her. Makoto, Hina, Hiro, Toko, Byakuya… even Sayaka and Leon had been nothing but patient and kind. They had turned from unknown variables into stalwart allies in such a short time… They had become her friends, the only friends she knew.

And why shouldn't she cry for her friends?

Her thoughts were interrupted as Makoto squeezed her tight like a vice, sobs now quieter and full of happiness, and relief, and so much hope. She heard Leon laugh uproariously and Sayaka giggle uncontrollably, and she knew then that these people would stand by her side until the very end.

* * *

Breakfast had been an emotive reunion. Hina's eyes had instantly welled up, and she had rushed straight to the pair, nearly crushing them with the force of her hug. Hiro had hung back, but the way his posture completely relaxed, as if any worries were sucked out of him by seeing his friends stand and be themselves again… that showed just how much he did care about them. Toko had been as grumpy and snarky as ever, but her irritableness had disappeared, and Kyoko had even caught her smiling a couple of times. Byakuya had kept up a cold front, but there was an unusual warmth in his eyes, and not once did his mouth form anything other than a small smirk that was more fond than smug.

To celebrate, they had opened better-quality canned food than usual - sardines, tomatoes, beans, mackerel… It had been delightful, and the mood all throughout breakfast had been light and happy, even if Hina had mourned the lack of any baked sugary goodies.

It was only after it had finished that everyone turned serious. They had asked Sayaka and Leon whether they had obtained any useful information during their imprisonment, but apart from what Sayaka had told Kyoko beforehand, there wasn't anything especially important.

Somewhat discouraged but mostly very relieved, most of them went to Spalvale and the surrounding areas to ask around for their missing friends. They had been doing it every time they had gone to the town, and so far nothing had come up, but they kept hoping. Sayaka and Leon were staying behind for obvious reasons - they could barely walk independently, and there was no way they could run, not to mention that they were prisoners that were supposed to have been executed - but, much to her shock, Kyoko was asked to stay behind with them.

Makoto told her that their informants in Spalvale had only warmed up to them after a long time, and seeing a new face would probably make them wary and refuse to give any information. Kyoko understood, but still… she thought that it would be quite awkward for Leon and Sayaka to be alone with her.

Makoto disagreed. "Those two have really warmed up to you, you know - well, everyone has, but Leon and Sayaka really do like you," he had said with a completely serious face. "And it's because they like you, and they trust you, Kyoko. Put some more faith in yourself."

And that was the reason why she saw them off at the school's entrance, standing just inside. After the van disappeared beyond the horizon, she sighed and turned back towards the school, noticing the longing stares Leon and Sayaka were giving the warm, bright grass and the lush trees that surrounded their home base. Their gazes turned sad as the door shut, flooding the room in darkness.

Makoto said that they would be gone for most of the day… which meant Kyoko had several options to choose from on how to spend the day. She could always just avoid Sayaka and Leon. It wouldn't be difficult - after all, they could barely move by themselves… but it would also be by far the most cruel thing she could do. She'd be denying them the pleasure of freedom and wonderment of being able to finally "be" home. And even though she knew she was more… pragmatic than most, even she didn't have the heart for that.

However, Kyoko did worry about what to do. If the three were going to spend the whole day together, then… she needed to come up with something to do.

Firstly, she asked them what they wanted to do. Their first excited response had simply been the two tripping over each other and even themselves, coming up with new ideas while one was already leaving their mouths. A consensus was reached, however, and they decided they wanted to see the whole school - their home - again. Kyoko would accompany them, as they needed someone to help if one of them fell down and couldn't get up with the help of the other person. She didn't mind at all - even if she hadn't been remotely interested in Leon and Sayaka's well-being, she hadn't seen the whole school yet… Knowing the school's whole layout could help her some day.

And off they went.

* * *

They started with the first floor. This was one Kyoko was familiar with. Luckily, the former patients quickly got used to walking, soon only needing for Kyoko to sometimes support them by letting them grab her thumb and palm. Leon's hands were clammy and warm, while Sayaka's were cooler, but both of them shook with emotion no matter when she held them or where they were.

It seemed as if with each new door opened, each new room entered, thousands upon thousands of memories flooded their minds… Kiyotaka and Mondo's endurance duel in the bathhouse, the winner unclear after Makoto found them passed out, saving their lives. The time they had spent a whole day holed up in the A/V room to watch a famous studio's anime adaptation of Hifumi's newest manga series. When Sayaka had woken up early only to find Sakura and Chihiro doing laps in the gymnasium, and joined them after their insistence. For obvious reasons, they didn't enter the infirmary, but even there, countless recollections had been shared and laughed about while Leon and Sayaka had still been confined to their beds. Kyoko smiled to keep Leon and Sayaka's faces laughing, bright and shining, but… it made her feel alone.

All these people around her had so many memories… and yet, she had none. No recollections of her past, no good times spent together with friends, nothing she could look back at fondly. Just a cold void, from which confusing, disorienteering, incomprehensible visions struggled out, only to be pulled back in.

She had nothing, absolutely nothing.

The feeling only increased as they went to the second floor. Sayaka's eyes sparkled with delight when they entered the swimming pool area, telling Kyoko while gesturing wildly about that time they'd all dived into the enormous swimming pool, even Toko, to rescue one of Celes' crystal earrings, the normally dismissive girl speechless from gratefulness. Leon's eyebrows shot up when they entered the library, and he started going on about the many occasions in which Kiyotaka (or just Taka, as they called him) had dragged him by the arm or the ear to the library and spent an entire afternoon, night or even a full day helping him with his studies. Leon had rolled his eyes and snorted dismissively when he finished his tale, but the way his eyes clouded with feeling when he thought no one was watching revealed his true feelings.

Leon and Sayaka were getting tired by the time they got up to the third floor: their breathing was becoming more laboured, and sweat was starting to form, droplets falling down their foreheads. Still, when they first saw the rec room through the light blue glass, it was as if their blood was filled with energy, and they resumed their step with greater cheer. Kyoko herself was quite unfamiliar with the third floor, only having come here a small number of times. The rec room had been her main destination every time, and she was already quite well-acquainted with it, but hearing Leon shout out "Hey, Sayaka! It's the magazine that featured us!" with such joy and wave the magazine around, pages rustling… it brought another feeling, one that she hated and loathed to have… envy. She was envious of Leon and Sayaka having memories.

That green-eyed, purple-faced flame only continued to burn brighter and hotter as they proceeded. It grew stronger as they visited the physics lab, with the models of the planets Hifumi had broken, then sent back fully new, except the planets had been turned into anime school girls, as well as the art room in which Hiro had drilled through an entire table. It roared louder as they proceeded up to the fourth floor, and such an unknown environment for Kyoko proved to be oh so familiar to the duo. She had watched with gritted teeth as they went to the music room and its grand piano and, of course, how Sayaka and some of the upperclassmen had held a charity concert in there, earning over 200 percent of the maximum expectations. They'd entered a classroom, and Kyoko had glowered, more angry at herself than anyone else, as Sayaka and Leon reminisced about the various things their class used to draw on the board - the times they'd played Hangman, and when Hiro had been caught shooting the stapler gun, oh, and when Hina had brought over an entire 50-donut pack to share only for an all-out war over the last chocolate one to break out, that had been so funny, ha ha ha, hey, and remember when Makoto-

"Let's get going. There's only one floor left, and I'd like to get a move on: I have better things to do. I'm sick of wasting time on you. " Kyoko wanted to swallow her disgusting words as soon as they escaped through her suddenly dry throat, out of her lying, dirty, stupid mouth, but it was too late.

As if by the crack of a whip, both Sayaka and Leon flinched away from her and her harsh tone, cutting through the joyous atmosphere like scissors destroying a beautiful tapestry, and when Sayaka slowly turned, Kyoko saw her face had paled with fear, eyes widened. Nodding, Leon looked at Sayaka with eyes full of concern, then faced Kyoko with such a strangled expression that she wanted nothing more than to apologize. She opened her mouth, but a bitter lump made out of buried rage and raw regret and even a small amount of perverse, awful, _evil_ glee made her unable to get any words out. Instead, all she could do was storm out of the room, barely noticing Sayaka and Leon's quiet footsteps, and make her way towards the staircase.

The hike to the fifth floor was done in silence. Kyoko's pent-up rage and bruised pride stopped her horrified conscience from going back and helping her friends - did they even consider her a friend anymore? - god, Makoto had trusted her with this, if she couldn't take care of Sayaka and Leon then what could she do - she furiously shook her head, and ran up the stairs two, three steps at a time, taking satisfaction in the way her loud stomps echoed off the walls, the loud dry sound her only company aside from her warring thoughts. She could taste bile in her mouth.

Something possessed her to wait at the top of the stairs, in the fifth floor, the one that she'd never gone to. She heard the pair before she saw them: quiet murmurs and secretive whispers, saying nothing and yet everything, announced their presence before their pale, sweaty, suddenly utterly exhausted faces showed themselves. A pang of guilt speared Kyoko's heart, but she pulled it out and threw it aside into the void with little more than a grimace - she was too tired, too angry, too upset to do anything other than be angry. The rational part of her, so small right now, was screaming at her that she was just unfairly blaming Leon and Sayaka, that they hadn't done anything wrong, that she should have begged for forgiveness minutes ago.

The fifth floor turned out to be quite small, all in all. There had been two classrooms to the right of the staircase, and then the path split into two - one led to another classroom, and finally, a biology lab, still working. Their breath came out in puffs of mist, and its residual cold seeped into their bones, so they didn't stay very long there, Kyoko frequently glancing towards the other two, who were looking at each other, as if communicating by telepathy. They didn't say anything about the classrooms or the lab - whether they were too scared to or were simply doing it for her sake, she didn't know. What she did realise is that it only made her more angry, especially at herself.

The other path had also only contained two rooms. First, a dojo, which appeared to be quite tidy, showing clear signs of having been carefully crafted and lovingly maintained. The gashes and tears in a thick tree trunk. The bushes and cherry blossom trees that lined the path. The old scrolls that were hung on the wall, quoting inspirational words from famous martial artists, Finally, a photograph had been framed and put in a small shrine, showing… smiling faces. Many smiling faces. At the front was a large woman, tan and muscled, white hair dropping over her shoulders and back. From that description, that woman was Sakura, one of Makoto's and everyone else's missing friends. Many people were gathered behind her… a boy with short black hair and piercing red eyes, a woman with red eyes obscured behind glasses, a brown-haired with tan skin and toned muscles… So many people. It made Kyoko feel… a sort of haunting aura to this place, but also… also something else, something that she could recognize- Suddenly, she was overcome with the need to leave.

The other place was the greenhouse.

Upon entering, Kyoko was struck by such a harsh light that she instinctively covered them with her hands, blinking rapidly in order to clear away the spots that had formed on her vision. Once opening her eyes, however, she was surprised by an entirely different reason.

"W-What…? What is this?" she murmured. The blue sky, complete with clouds… The smell of grass and green and nature… The sounds of insects - crickets, bees, cicadas… If she didn't know any better, she would've thought they were outside. The greenhouse was teeming with life - she could see a section of it dedicated to crops next to a shed, but everything else was covered with various plants, of all shapes and sizes,

Suddenly, a tremendous pain sprouted in her forehead.

Flashes of memories bombarded her, and she recognized a few species she saw, but… That flower was supposed to only grow in Australia, right? That flower had been proof that- Another flower she recognized, from northern Germany. After all, it had been that fact which had checked out his alibi- And that old tree… wasn't that native from Peru? Which meant that the only person who could've killed that old woman was -!

"Kyoko!" The next thing she knew, she was on the floor.

Sharp pain flared through her body, and through a fog, she dimly realised that she'd collapsed. She heard Sayaka cry out, and then hurried footsteps, and then rapid, panting breaths. A warm, calloused hand took her hand, while another pair grabbed her shoulders and sides - Leon and Sayaka? The two said something, tone frantic and so concerned, but that loud, persistent ringing stopped her from understanding anything. She felt herself being put into a standing position, and then being half carried, half dragged out of that blasted greenhouse, down the stairs, into a room that, even through her twisted vision, she recognized as the staff room. Just like that member of staff, he'd been caught selling that to students, so to stop it from coming out, he'd had to-!

She was made to sit down, and something was forced against her lips, and then liquid was pouring down her throat, so much liquid, just like that man, the liquid in his throat was obvious proof that he'd been- she choked, spat out the water, words tearing and breaking out of her throat that even she didn't understand. She screamed, cried, trembled and swung wildly, and heard a choked sob, and then-

The void caught her.

* * *

When Kyoko was released from the dulcet tones of bliss, the first thing she heard was a soft beep from somewhere above her. Then, someone, a masculine voice, saying "Y-You're awake!"

Unwittingly, she yawned, then slowly opened her eyes to look at a mess of red hair and pale blue eyes staring at her with so much relief. Leon… Tearing her gaze away from him, she looked at herself. She was in a white bed, with all her clothes bar her shoes still on. Her knees had some ugly scrapes and nicks, but it seemed as if they'd been cleaned. Kyoko examined the room, only to discover that it was the infirmary, and that she'd been placed on a bed and connected to the the machines. She'd be lying if she said it didn't bring back memories of when she'd met Makoto for the first time.

Leon then stumbled around the bed, disconnecting the tubes that not even a day ago had been attached to his own body - thank goodness for disinfection procedures. All the while, he was babbling on, tripping over his own words, but Kyoko caught things like "Sayaka has gone to get some water," and "You passed out for hours," and most shockingly for her, things like "I'm so glad you're awake, seriously," and "We were really worried about you."

But why? She'd been… she'd been rude, inconsiderate, annoying, and so stupid. So goddamn stupid. And yet, despite their bodies being weaker than normal, and despite her treatment of them, Sayaka and Leon had still helped her. They'd carried her unconscious body all the way down to the ground floor, and then connected her to the health machine.

They'd helped her so much, and yet… And yet… All she'd done was...

"Leon…" The boy then immediately stopped trying to disconnect the last tube and faced her, clear concern in his eyes. Taking a deep, painful breath, Kyoko followed. "Why did you bring me to the infirmary?"

Leon's brow furrowed. Scratching the back of his head, he answered, tone obviously confused, not understanding. "What do you mean? You'd fainted, Kyoko. You needed help. Sure, it was tough… and I can say that again!" He then started chuckling lightly, but his face quickly turned serious. It was as if his gaze was digging into her soul, and she shifted, covers suddenly too hot, pillow suddenly in the wrong place.

"But if you think we'd leave you just lying there… Then… You either think too low of us, or too low of yourself." With that, Leon sighed, resuming his task. Finally, all the tubes were unattached, and with a bit of help from Leon, Kyoko was able to stand. She was still wobbling, and she observed with distant, oneiric amusement how the tables had turned since this morning.

Her legs became too unstable, though, and she sat back down on her bed - it was probably just an after-effect from the blow to her knees that would stop in a short while. Still, being helpless like this… How had Leon and Sayaka stood it? Leon sat down on the white chair and leaned forwards towards her in interest.

"But… hey, what happened? I mean, normally people don't faint out of the blue like that," he said, eyes flashing with… fear? He seemed so… lost.

"I… It's nothing. You shouldn't concern yourself." Kyoko averted her eyes, refusing to see Leon's face contort in confusion and worry. Clutching her arm until her knuckles turned white, she then took a deep breath before looking at the ceiling. Why didn't she trust Leon with this? No, wait… that wasn't the right question to ask. She did trust Leon. She was… she was worried that Leon didn't trust her, she realised. Then again, after the previous events of the day… she didn't blame him.

"Hey…" Leon's low voice carried through the room to her, breaking her out of her stupor. "You know you can trust us, right? Sayaka and I…" and at this he paused, trying to find the right words to say, trying to find an answer. "We care about you, you know."

Taking in a hurried breath, feeling as if someone had punched her in the gut, Kyoko opened her mouth to respond, but Leon beat her to it, fists tightened, eyes burning. "I mean, don't get me wrong. That shit you did, what you said… it hurt. It really did, Kyoko. It was… not gonna lie, it was actually painful, you know?" he said, grimacing, voice rising in pitch and volume. His anger was entirely justified, of course… but it still wounded. The look on his face, full of rage and betrayal, made her feel as if she was scum. However, as she watched, his expression became softer, sadder, full of understanding.

"But I know there's a reason you were mad at us. You… you were jealous, right? Jealous of all these memories we had," he said softly, as if murmuring to a wounded bird. Leon stared straight at Kyoko's eyes, face inclining forwards in anticipation. He knew… but then again, of course he knew. She had already told them she was an amnesiac days ago, it wasn't that hard to figure it out.

"Y-Yeah…" Her voice was brittle, cracking like glass, but she gathered strength, and pushed on. "That's it, you're right. I… I was envious of you guys. Of all those good memories…" Kyoko took a moment to collect herself, feeling Leon's gaze fixed on her, curious yet patient, probing yet gentle. Leon…

"And then… I just couldn't take it anymore. I-I exploded, and… you know what happened next. And… well, that's it, really." With a sigh, Kyoko finished her story, and averted her eyes. Biting the inside of her cheek, she prepared for a rebuke, an insult or a snide comment. What she didn't expect was complete and utter silence.

Opening her eyes, she saw Leon's face. He looked… saddened. Regretful. Ashamed. It made her heart clench. He then looked at her, so vulnerable, and started speaking,

"Ah, so it really is that, huh? J-Just as we thought… I…" And at I'm really sorry, Kyoko! " And at this, Leon took a deep breath, then bowed his head before the shocked Kyoko could react. T-This was just… what had happened? "We- It's just that we were so excited and, and happy to be finally free, we just… We didn't think. A-And we were so caught up in our own happiness, w-we, we just, we didn't consider how you felt…" Leon stammered out, voice fluctuating wildly. He was shaking, his body was literally trembling with so much sadness and self-anger. If she had been a truly evil person, Kyoko would have accepted this situation with glee.

But… there was no way she could let this go on. Her conscience was sobbing, begging her to do something. A-And, seeing Leon like that was… heartbreaking. He was blaming himself, but… it wasn't even his fault. It wasn't Sayaka's fault either. This whole situation was just… so stupid… She needed to end it - she had to. And so she swallowed, pushing down all her fears, her insecurities, her hatred, getting past that bitter lump, and then spoke.

"Leon, stop. Just stop." The measured tightness in her voice surprised even her. Leon's eyes widened, and he flinched slightly. She then pushed, and, ignoring her screaming muscles, stood up. She was unsteady - her knees were knocking, and her thighs were shaking from sheer nervousness, but she couldn't let that stop her. She had to go on.

"This whole thing isn't your fault. You said that I had to stop thinking so lowly of myself, right? Well, now I'm saying that to you, Leon. Do you seriously think that you and Sayaka are the one that caused this mess, even though I was the one who snapped at you? Because, in fact, I think if we have to assign blame to someone, it must be me." The hand splayed on her chest tightened into a fist. Leon's gaze turned wide in confusion and pain, and he attempted to argue, but Kyoko beat him to it, eyes narrowing into a glare. "This was all just a giant, stupid misunderstanding. It might be true that you guys maybe could've been a bit more considerate, but that doesn't excuse me freaking out at you when you were so happy. If anything, I should've talked with you guys earlier about it. I'm sure you would've understood. So… please, please don't blame yourself." _And please don't hate me_ , she wanted to add, but she already knew it would be useless. Sayaka and Leon were too kind for that. All of these people were too kind: even the cold Byakuya was too soft sometimes. For their sake, she had to… She had to be harsh. With herself, with them, with anyone who dared to threaten their safety… For everyone.

She was so caught up in her own thoughts, she barely noticed Leon standing up from his chair.

"...Yeah. Y-You're right." His voice was shaky at first, but as Kyoko watched him, Leon changed. His tone became steely. "That was… that was really stupid of me. But… Kyoko, you know we forgive you, right. You.. you just reacted badly, that's all." He took an unsure step towards her, left arm digging into the right.

"Really? Just like that, it's over? As if it didn't happen?" _As if I didn't hurt you?_ Kyoko spat out those words like poison, with much more force than she intended. Why… Why was Leon so ready to forgive her? W-Why were all these people _so goddamn kind_?

As if reading her mind, Leon continued. "Kyoko. You took care of Sayaka and I when we were in- in the hospital beds. Makoto told us that you were the one who planned out our rescue, period! I mean, for fuck's sake-" And at this Leon's expression turned so angry, so full of rage and pain and sheer exasperation, "Friendships aren't perfect, aren't they? Everyone falls out once in a while! Hell, even Makoto gets fed up with us sometimes!"

Stunned, Kyoko recoiled, and Leon pressed his advantage, palms spread out, taking a confident stance. "But you know what? We make up! And all of these… trials and problems and whatnot, they just help our friendship become stronger, right? God, I feel like Makoto now… He's way better at this friendship-speech thing." he said, rubbing the back of his head. Looking at Kyoko, he then flashed a soft smile that made her eyes widen.

"Anyway, my point is this. Kyoko, you've done a lot for me. You've done a lot for Sayaka, and Makoto, and for everyone else. I seriously can't thank you enough for that. And…" He paused, fist pressed to his cheek, trying to think of the best words to say. "...an incident like this one won't ruin what you've done."

T-Then… Leon forgave her? He… he really didn't mind that she'd snapped at him? This was… such a foreign concept to her. None of her memories had really featured friends. Well, there had been one weird memory recently… but no, she couldn't focus on that. She turned to Leon, and saw him… smiling. He had stretched an arm forwards, hand held out.

A mixture of emotions ran through Kyoko's whole body, and she had to close her eyes to compose herself. She opened them after taking a deep breath, and they darted wildly despite herself - from the pristine white walls of the infirmary, to Leon's warm and inviting face, to his calloused hand. Feeling overwhelmed, and yet pleasantly light-headed, she stepped forward, once, twice, three times… And took Leon's hand.

It was rough, and it was obvious that it could exert tremendous force if it wished, but it also felt warm, and safe. The hand of a person she could trust. "So… are we friends, Kyoko?" Leon asked, head tilted to the side in anticipation.

And then, Kyoko nodded. "Yes, Leon. We… We are friends," she said, voice with a happier tone, reminding her of better times, of the smell of sweat and grass beneath her feet and delighted shouts and celebrations-

 _And then the whole world, suddenly stripped of all colour, crawled down slowly to a stop. Kyoko smiled, looking at Leon - the Spectrum Magic doing its work was true proof that Leon did truly consider her a friend. She… she was relieved, to be honest._

 _Quickly, a red orb protruding out of Leon's chest. Visibly struggling to release itself, it finally popped out noiselessly, and, after whizzing around through the air in something that resembled glee, it quickly floated up to Kyoko, and dissolved with a single touch, disappearing into her. And then, one thing appeared in her mind, burning all other thoughts to a crisp…_

 _ **Fire.**_ _A fickle element, releasing light and warmth for its allies and unspeakable torment for its enemies._

Before she knew it, time had sped back up to normal, and colour was painted on the world again. Leon flinched, as if struck by a mace's blow, and staggered backwards, only for Kyoko to hurriedly stabilise him. His face was an almost caricature-like portrayal of surprise and confusion, but what worried her the most was that he was also wincing in pain.

"I-I'm fine, don't worry." Standing up, he waved her off, then shook his hands and legs to get the blood flowing. After checking everything was in order, he let out a small sigh of relief, then turned to face Kyoko.

"We should probably go find Sayaka. Are you feeling good enough to move?" he asked, leading the way after Kyoko's nod. But… no matter how chipper he seemed, and no matter how widely he smiled… Kyoko could still notice the way he dragged his right leg.

* * *

As it turns out, Sayaka was in the bathroom. Kyoko and Leon explained everything that had happened. It was an emotional moment, and Sayaka promised, much like Leon, that they were friends, and they'd have each other's backs. She then dragged both of them back to the dining hall to get some water, and afterwards, the three went upstairs and sat down in the rec room to chat.

They made some small talk, such as their favorite food, or some funny stories, but Kyoko could instantly perceive nervousness - Sayaka's frequent swallowing, Leon playing with the strands in his hair. The glances they shared occasionally, when they thought she wasn't watching. Their eyes, betraying the curiosity and concern they held.

 _So that's what they want…_ Well, there was no point in keeping it hidden any longer. Pressing a palm to her chest, she started speaking.

"There's no need to dance around the issue. You… you want to know what made me lose consciousness, don't you?" Leon and Sayaka's jaws dropped, but they soon overwhelmed with a flurry of statements that told her that she didn't need to tell them, that they understood, but even she could see how curious they truly were. And, well… she owed Sayaka and Leon. Telling her… friends (it was still strange to say that word) what was on her mind wasn't something that she really wanted to avoid.

So she told them. She told them how ever since waking up, bits and flashes of memories had suddenly materialised in her mind, as if triggered by what she was hearing, or seeing, or doing. How the flashbacks had been getting worse recently, and how it got to a climax as she became so overwhelmed in the greenhouse she passed out. When she finished, digging her gloved fingers into her palms to stop them from trembling, she looked at Leon and Sayaka, who were looking at her with such worry, it made her feel awful - how had she ever doubted that they considered her a friend? They didn't seem ready to talk, still too overwhelmed, too hesitant.

"I… I still don't know much. I can't make sense of half the things that come back to me." Kyoko took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. "A-And the things I remember… they mostly aren't particularly nice." All her memories were just pain, and suffering and fire and so much death-

No, there was one good memory, wasn't there? That… that flashback she'd had in the infirmary, with all those people with the happy faces and the smiles. That pair that reminded her so much of Sayaka and Leon. They were going to say something, weren't they? What was it? Kyoko wracked her brain, but it refused to provide an answer. Sighing, she reclined back in her seat, feeling the comfortable pillow swallow her. It was then that she saw Sayaka, who had been staring up and to the left until then, gasped, and stared at her dead in the eye.

"I-I just remembered something. Back when Hope's Peak was still a functioning school, we had this guy in our year. He was unsociable and just not a very nice person, but… he had the most developed Memory Magic anyone had seen in decades." Sayaka, looking unusually serious, glanced at Leon for confirmation, who nodded.

"Yeah, Sayaka's right. The guy was a real weirdo," Leon said, ignoring the light punch Sayaka gave to his shoulder, "but he was a total genius. The guy could literally make you lose all your memories with a snap of his fingers. He could make you a drooling, lifeless zombie: that's why he was forced to wear this magic limiter 24/7. But he also worked a lot with the teachers and stuff."

"Yeah, he let lots of scientists and researchers analyse his magic to make some… really shady machines. Brainwashing, psychological torture, that kind of stuff. I don't know how, but it eventually leaked out to the public… But anyway, something he was always talking about was this… memory enhancer."

A… memory enhancer? Did that mean that… "And this memory enhancer… do you think it could recover my memories?"

Sayaka nodded, breaking out into a smile. "Yeah. He said he wanted to develop it for, um, people who were suffering traumatic amnesia. I didn't really understand the details when he held his presentation, but… basically, the machine would search the brain for memories that are being repressed, or have been recently thrust into the unconscious, and bring them back and store them inside itself, and people would then be able to watch their memories."

From what Sayaka was saying, it was more likely that the machine would be primarily used to extract information from spies or important figures of power. But if what Sayaka and Leon was saying was indeed true, then… she could recover her memories. She could finally find out who she was, and why she was so much weaker than the stories told about her, and where was her family, where were her friends, what was she doing in this strange, twisted world?

"Right, so we should probably search for the machine then. Do you guys know where it is?" At this, Leon's face scrunched up in concentration.

"Um… well, the guy - I don't really remember his name - disappeared about a week before the whole world went to shit. But he was super possessive of his stuff, there's no way he could leave it somewhere people could access it." he said, eye twitching for a reason Kyoko couldn't discern. Beside him, Sayaka suddenly stiffened up, muscles locking into place. Kyoko suddenly felt a very bad feeling about this.

Regardless, she pressed on. If the Memory mage was truly such a loner, then he'd have no close friend he trusted enough to hold his precious inventions. And if he wouldn't leave it somewhere just anybody could access, then that narrowed it down to just a few places left. He worked frequently with the academy's staff… Then, the most likely candidate - the one who ran the whole school - the person with the most power in the academy….

"What about the headmaster?"

And as soon as the words had escaped from her mouth, Kyoko knew she'd made a mistake.

At the word 'headmaster', Sayaka and Leon's movements completely stopped. Both suddenly fixed their stares on her, and Kyoko noticed with alarm that their pupils had shrunken down to a pinprick. She stood up, a mixture of fear and concern bubbling in her stomach, and took a step towards them, when Leon suddenly laughed, making her step back in surprise and alarm. The laughter sounded… weird. Forced, uncomfortable, dissonant.

Leon smiled, but it was all teeth and no actual friendly intent. "Yeah, the headmaster probably has it. That old man did love that guy, after all… except, wait, no! The headmaster was that woman, that former Ultimate Gardener, right? Yeah, y-yeah, that's it, totally!" Leon stood up and started to pace around, rubbing his left arm with his right in a frenzy. His expression seemed that of a crazed man, all wide-eyed and pale and tinged with fear.

Sayaka was in a similar state. The blue-haired girl was in a total panic - she was collapsed on the floor, hands tightly hugging her entire body in a fetal position in order to close herself off. She was muttering to herself, small voice in such an unusually terrified tone that it only spurred Kyoko into greater concern. "T-The headmaster… No, there's no way… She - no, he - wait, she - he - she…"

T-This was… entirely out of her league. What was happening to - to those two? W-With the mere mention of the 'headmaster', they'd gone insane. This wasn't like with the Memory mage, like normal forgetting of names or appearance- there was no way this panic was caused due to the passing of time and the slow eroding of irrelevant memories. But then, what… What was going on? There was no way - she could ever -

And then, as if a switch had been flicked, Kyoko's emotions shut down. All concern, all worry and fear faded away, leaving her with a strange yet somehow familiar void in which she could - just - finally - _think_.

Obviously, Sayaka and Leon hadn't chosen to put themselves in that space. She hadn't done anything either, other than say one triggering word - 'headmaster'. So then their memories of the headmaster had been forced down into the subconscious or erased, just like hers? No, they weren't the same. True, a breakdown had been triggered due to the sight of various different plants making her remember… solving cases? Murders? Whatever it was, it was not important right now.

Her memory's released had not been so intrinsically linked with the plants as their breakdown was with the word 'headmaster'. It was highly likely that the sight of a corpse - a true, cold and dead corpse, not the person Byakuya had shattered into pieces, or the criminals she had wounded when they had been ambushed on the road - would have triggered, at the very least, similar memories. No, what had happened was something much more sinister. Kyoko's whole memories had been brutally forced back into the subconscious, but the blocking of so many memories all at once allowed them to escape sometimes in the form of her flashbacks.

What Sayaka and Leon had suffered was much more nefarious - the deep obstruction of one single figure - the headmaster. Such precision would basically ensure that they would never recover that memory ever unless with help from outside means. Basically, Sayaka and Leon's memories of the headmaster had been practically erased, and their brains, only now noticing the sheer logical error, were frantically attempting to correct it by pumping huge amounts of information from the subconscious back into their primary memory, trying to find something, anything that would solve this issue.

But if their brains continued doing that… Leon and Sayaka's memory would overload, and their brains, completely and utterly overwhelmed, would stop functioning. They would become braindead. They would… they would die.

And there was no way she could allow that.

With ease, as if she had been practising her whole life, Kyoko tapped into her magic reserves, suddenly much fuller and so much greater than she'd ever felt them be. Effortlessly, she drew power - so much power! - and her form started shining white, a blurry aura spreading and finding Sayaka and Leon, the two in no state to stop her. For a small moment, they shined white, so blindingly white, and yet she felt no need to cover her eyes, and then… Then Leon and Sayaka collapsed in the floor, their minds going into a deep REM sleep state. The Protection spell had been applied, stopping any further overload from happening, and reverting their brains back to how they were. That ugly curse was still there, however - it was just shielded off from the rest of the brain. She - she had to figure out how to remove it eventually.

Her thoughts instantly turned to Hiro - while the Mind mage wasn't specialised in mental blocks and memories, he still dabbled in them a fair bit. If nothing else, he could identify the problem, unless… Kyoko's thoughts raced as she made a disturbing conclusion - there was no evidence that the memory submission Sayaka and Leon were suffering had been placed on them in the prison. For all she knew, everyone had been affected. Even Byakuya, even Hina… even Makoto.

And if she was right? The answer disturbed her. Someone had placed this block in the entire student body's minds, or at least definitely Makoto's class. Had it been the headmaster? Or had it been someone else - Ultimate Despair, or maybe an unrelated third party? Whatever it was, it meant one thing… The headmaster's identity was very important - it could be the key to crack this whole situation, and solve all the mysteries that plagued and tormented her mind.

This headmaster… Who were they? Who could they be?

That was her next objective. She needed to find out their identity… at any cost.

* * *

And then, in an instant, her mind slowed back down to normal. Confused, Kyoko blinked rapidly, but she didn't feel sleepy or disorientated - in fact, she felt… better than ever. Refreshed, ready, alert, as if some fire had awakened inside of her that would never go out. Still, she needed to take a moment to gather her thoughts. What… what had happened?

' _My whole brain just… accelerated. Everything suddenly made sense. That was…_ " She'd heard about it, remembered it from somewhere - _where, where?_ A way to block out all thoughts except the logical thought, all emotions except for total reason. But… only the most experienced could master that technique, and even then they had difficulties. And yet it had come to her like second nature.

So then, that confirmed it, didn't it? She… one way or another, she had finally found out something about herself. She investigated cases, blocked off her emotions, found corpses, questioned alibis and destroyed the fake ones, pinpointed killers with perfect accuracy...

She was a detective, a detective who specialised in homicide. Kyoko Kirigiri, somehow, was not only a heroine with amazing swordplay and magic mastery, but also… a follower of the school of total logic.

A groan from Sayaka made her remember what had made her go into such total focus. Running up to her, Kyoko felt a tremendously heavy load leave her body as she saw Sayaka's eyes open, pupils back to normal, with no hint of her previous… of her previous despair. She could see Leon waking up as well, in much the same way. No trace left of his crazed behaviour, just confusion.

None of them remembered anything after their sudden breakdown. Disorientated, they both said that the last thing they remembered was talking about the Memory Enhancer. Not wanting for the protective spell in their minds to break, Kyoko lied, telling them while keeping the straightest face she could make that they had just passed out for a minute all of a sudden. They frowned, obviously suspicious, but there was no evidence to the contrary, and… they trusted Kyoko, as a friend, to tell the truth. She had to admit, breaking Sayaka and Leon's trust was hard. She didn't want to be there when they found out that she'd lied, didn't want to see their denial, their shock, the sheer rage and regret and betrayal and _despair_. But in order to protect them, she had to omit the truth.

But everything would be fine. They'd just need to wait for the rest to arrive, and then, using her meager mind powers and indications from her book, she could identify whether the people who hadn't been captured had the block in place or not. And after that, she could spend time researching the matter, trying to increase her magic's power and scouting out any Memory mages, or anyone at all that could help. It would take time and a lot of effort, and she'd have to juggle that with finding the rest of the group, but… she'd manage. She had to.

And then, as if the cruel Lady Fate had thrown her dice, and then laughed, the fingers obscuring her mouth not fully hiding the sheer evil it held in its smile, Kyoko felt a tremor underneath her, as if the whole building… shook. Nothing major, but nothing had ever happened like that. Sayaka and Leon looked just as confused, and just as wary, as her, which wasn't a good sign.

Then, Kyoko's phone rang. Only one other person had her number, and so she quickly answered the call. But she didn't expect Makoto to immediately start screaming on the other end.

"Kyoko! Are Sayaka and Leon with you? Y-You guys are in danger!" Makoto's voice was so strained and fraught with such powerful worry that Kyoko flinched, noticing Sayaka and Leon's curious looks, and making her activate the speaker's voice function. Suddenly, the floor trembled and shifted again, but the tremor was stronger, lasted for longer. A foreboding feeling settled in the bottom of Kyoko's heart. Hurriedly, the three friends glanced at one another, then rushed out of the room, racing towards the staircase and practically jumping down the stairs,

"I-I messed up. One of our informants betrayed us. He planted a tracker in us the last time I talked to him. Kyoko, get Leon and Sayaka and get out of the school! We're there in ten minutes!" In the background, she could faintly hear people arguing. They were on the first floor now…

"Makoto, it's too late!" Sayaka panted out. "I-I think they're trying to break in through the front door!" Her voice shook with anxiety.

"T-Then hide somewhere in the school! Like, I-I don't know-" Makoto's shrill voice, modified by the telephone, echoed off the walls of the staircase as they practically leapt down to the ground floor.

And then, just as they came into the entrance hall, the giant metal doors that protected the school from intruders for so long shook one last time, creating a reverb so strong that she briefly stumbled, and then… fell. The doors fell away, creating a cloud of dust and debris that made her cover her eyes.

When she opened them, all she could see was red.

Red eyes upon red eyes… masks upon masks… grins upon grins. So many people, at least a couple of dozen, stood outside the school, still holding a battering ram with that cursed bearlike face at its head. The jagged red eyes in the black half of their masks seemed to be glaring at the three, but none of them backed down. Leon snarled fiercely, a ball of fire forming in his right palm. Sayaka cleared her throat and put a hand to her chest. And Kyoko…

Kyoko spoke into the phone.

"I'm sorry, Makoto. It's too late. We have to fight."

Makoto's garbled reply was cut off as Kyoko turned the phone off.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter! My skills have gotten pretty rusty, so I'd really appreciate any criticism or any reviews in general, from whether what you liked about the chapter, what you hope to see, what could've been improved... All powers, weapons and future FTEs have been sorted out.**

 **Also, I joined this really cool Discord a couple of weeks ago. It's focused on the Danganronpa and the Persona series. The people in it are really cool and supportive too, it's a lot of fun to mess around in and chat. It's called Dangansona and here's the link:** **/invite/JdJmJhg**

 **You can also find it in Disboard if the link doesn't work.**

 **Anyway, again, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Have a nice day!**


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